Christian Bale, who starred as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” from 2005-2012, recently told Screenrant that he would be willing to transform into Gotham’s caped crusader yet again under one condition — Christopher Nolan must be the director.
Nolan directed the critically-acclaimed “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” with the latter films grossing over $1 billion at the worldwide box office.
Although no one has mentioned the actor reprising his role, according to Bale, it would only be a fitting idea considering Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck (who both previously played Batman) are set to return to reprise their roles as the defender of Gotham.
“No one’s ever mentioned it to me. No one’s brought it up,” Bale said when asked about taking on the role again. “Occasionally people say to me, ‘Oh, I hear you were approached and offered all this.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s news to me. No one’s ever said that.’”
The Oscar-winning actor went on to dish about his “movie pact” with Nolan.
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“I had a pact with Chris Nolan,” Bale told the outlet. “We said, ‘Hey, look. Let’s make three films, if we’re lucky enough to get to do that. And then let’s walk away. Let’s not linger too long.’ In my mind, it would be something if Chris Nolan ever said to himself, ‘You know what, I’ve got another story to tell.’ And if he wished to tell that story with me, I’d be in.”
Bale and Nolan’s gritty and visually astounding take on the comic book character broke records with the 2008 sequel “The Dark Knight Rises,” taking the crown as the highest grossing Batman film ever made.
Following Bale’s rendition of the tortured vigilante, Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson have both suited up to play the iconic superhero.
“The Batman,” starring Pattinson premiered post-pandemic in March and grossed $770 million worldwide, surpassing “Batman Begins.”
Bale recently stunned fans when he told Variety that he’s never seen “The Batman,” before promising to finally check out his successor’s film.
“I still haven’t seen it. I will see it,” he said. “Listen, mate, it’s amazing how few films I see. Every director I work with, I’ve seen a couple of their films and they’re always looking at me going, ‘Are you kidding?’ I like to really savor films, and I don’t watch too many. But I will, I certainly will.”
He went on to praise Pattinson for his talents on the big screen. “Robert is an absolutely wonderful actor. We bumped into each other, talked a little bit about it ahead of time, and I heard wonderful things.”
In April, Warner Bros. confirmed its plans for an upcoming sequel to “The Batman,” with Pattinson reprising his role.
Bale is set to hit theaters nationwide as Gorr the God Butcher in “Thor: Love And Thunder” on July 8.