Despite the fact we’ve heard repeatedly that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy would have no connection to Warner Bros.’ planned DC movie universe, there’s been persistent rumours suggesting that Christian Bale could extend his stay as Gotham’s protector by reprising the role of Batman for the long-awaited Justice League movie (should it ever come to fruition, of course). Well, we can now firmly put an end to that speculation, with Bale telling Entertainment Weekly that he’s hung up the cape and cowl and is looking forward to passing the Bat-torch to another actor.
“We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That’s enough. Let’s not get greedy,” says Bale, who portrayed the Caped Crusader in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. “Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying ‘We’re about to make the third.’ We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well. I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I’ve literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a Justice League movie, that’s it. It’s a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with.”
At this point, we’re still waiting to on confirmation of Warner Bros.’ plans post-Man of Steel, but with the Zack Snyder-directed Superman reboot crossing the $500 million mark at the global box office this past weekend, you’d have to assume we’ll be hearing an announcement in the very near future…
Originally published July 1, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
