Christian Bale Wanted To Be Batman Forever
Christian Bale recently revealed that he thought playing Batman would "be it" for him.
Christian Bale threw himself into the role of DC’s Batman for seven years and at one point even thought he might play the character forever — much to his delight. During a recent GQ interview, Bale was asked if he thought he would be stuck as Batman forever and Bale replied “Yeah, but I loved it. I loved that because I was like, “This could be it.”
Fans certainly wouldn’t have minded if Christian Bale continued to play the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, especially if Christopher Nolan was at the helm of further movies. Of course, this wasn’t meant to be and the Nolan trilogy came to a definitive end, with Bale and Nolan both moving on to other projects. Since then, we’ve had both Ben Affleck and Robert Pattinson in the role with Michael Keaton also reprising the role in future DC films.
While it seems unlikely that Christian Bale would play Batman again ala Michael Keaton, you can never say never. After all, Bale is clearly open to more comic book roles considering he played the villainous Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. Then again, he also told GQ that the process of shooting in front of a green screen was monotonous, so he’ll probably be taking a break from the superhero genre for the foreseeable future.
Fortunately, Christian Bale isn’t taking a break from films entirely, as he has two more films for fans to enjoy this year with Amsterdam and The Pale Blue Eye releasing soon. The David O. Russell-directed Amsterdam stars Bale, John David Washington, and Margot Robbie as three friends who are framed for a murder in the 1930s and discover an outrageous plot. The film also stars Alessandro Nivola, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Taylor Swift, Timothy Olyphant, Zoe Saldana, Robert de Niro, and Rami Malek.
Amsterdam just hit theaters so you can check it out this weekend, but you’ll have to wait until December 23 to see Christian Bale in The Pale Blue Eye. The Pale Blue Eye is adapted from the Louis Bayard novel and tells the story of a detective who recruits a West Point cadet to investigate the murder of another cadet. The one who recruits also happens to be the man who would become known to the world as Edgar Allen Poe.
Along with Christian Bale, The Pale Blue Eye stars Harry Melling as Edgar Allen Poe. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon McBurney, Timothy Spall, Hadley Robinson, Robert Duvall, and more. Scott Cooper directs and adapts the screenplay.
Christian Bale is also slated to produce and star in an upcoming film based on the Vanity Fair article by David Kushner about John Lee Bishop, a pastor who became a drug runner for the Mexican cartel. The Church of Living Dangerously also has Charles Randolph attached to write the screenplay. There is no release date planned yet for The Church of Living Dangerously.
If you miss Christian Bale as Batman, you can always rewatch the Nolan trilogy on HBO Max. You’ll also be able to see Batman (though not played by Bale) in live-action again in The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. If you want to check out Christopher Nolan’s next film, make sure to watch out for Oppenheimer on July 21, 2023.
