Christian Bale Returning As Batman Under One Condition?
Could he once again be the hero we need?
This article is more than 2 years old
Don’t get too excited just yet Bat-fans, but Christian Bale is talking about the possibility of ever playing The Dark Knight again. Bale, fresh off of his return to comic book movies with his role as Gorr in Thor: Love and Thunder, is fielding questions from reporters about his time as the DC Comics icon. Surprisingly, Bale is being pretty forthcoming about the idea, and while he isn’t planning on a return to the Bat-Cave just yet, he is saying there’s a chance.
During his press tour for the latest Thor movie, Bale has been rather chatty with reporters, putting to rest those rumors that he’s difficult or surly with the media. In an interview with ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis, he’s was pretty open about his approach to playing a villain like Gorr the God Butcher, which director Taika Waiti has teased as being the best villain to ever menace the Marvel Cinematic Universe. When asked about the possibility of ever playing Batman again, Christian Bale didn’t shoot down the idea, and said it came down to one factor: Christopher Nolan.
“For me, that would be a matter of Chris Nolan,” Bale told Davis. “If he ever decided to do it again and if he chose to come my way again, then yeah, I would consider it because that was always our pact between each other is we would just stick to it. We said we would only ever make three. And then I said to myself, and I’d only ever make it with Chris.” That admission is likely shocking to a lot of fans, who assumed that the story arc in Nolan’s trilogy had closed pretty definitively when 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises ended. Of course, Bale may just be humoring us all, knowing full well he would never return to the role. Still, should Nolan ever get the creative itch again, it’s at least good to know that the actor would, at the very least, consider a return.
In Hollywood, you never say never, as Michael Keaton showed us with his return as Bruce Wayne/Batman for the upcoming Flash movie, and both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning as Spider-Man for the MCU. Seeing Bale don the cowl again, however, seems like a long shot. Even in his response to Davis, he pointed out that they always intended to do just three films. He also revealed that DC/Warner Bros. has not approached him about playing the character again. For now, Christian Bale seems content in following Michael Keaton in just one aspect: being a Batman actor who then plays a villain in a Marvel movie.
Judging by the early reviews of the film, Christian Bale is impressing a lot of folks with his performance. It appears he delivers on the hype, with more than one reviewer likening it to Heath Ledger’s villainous (and Oscar-winning) turn as the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight. That may be Bat-blasphemy to some fans, but even if they’re only half-right in their assessment, that is a good omen for Thor 4.
In addition to Christian Bale as Gorr, Thor: Love and Thunder stars Chris Hemsworth (obviously) reprising his role as the God of Thunder, Natalie Portman as Jane/The Mighty Thor (who reviewers say doesn’t embarrass herself in wielding Mjölnir, thankfully), and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Starlord. It also stars Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Taika Waititi as Korg, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Vin Diesel as Groot, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, and Jaimie Alexander as Sif. It opens in theaters on July 8.
