It’s Official: Christian Bale Is Done With Batman (For Now)

The actor says that THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is defnitely his last time in the Batsuit.

By Nov. 28, 2011

Finality is going to be a big aspect of the marketing of The Dark Knight Rises. As I reported a while ago, Christopher Nolan designed this film to be a true capper to his Batman run, definitively ending the story he started in Batman Begins. At the time Warner Bros was trying to convince the director to leave them an opening to keep the series going, but they have since come around and decided that a reboot is their best option*.

What that means is that a lot of what you're going to read about The Dark Knight Rises will focus on closure; the template for all the stories in the media will be Return of the King or the final Harry Potter. Lots of good bye stories.

And it's starting now! Christian Bale tells The Phillipine Inquirer that he is all finished with Batman.

“I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I’m taking that cowl [Batman hood] off,” he said. “I believe that the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it’s all done. Everything’s finished. It’s me and Chris – that will be the end of that Batman era.”

That's what he says now, of course. The question of  how many truckloads of money he will need to return for Batman 4 remains open; I would imagine that Nolan would take on a producer job in a Batfilm set during the 8 year gap.

Also of interest in that article: while Bale praises the acting of Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy he doesn't have a lot to say about Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He says: "Joseph is a very intriguing guy... I would see Joseph’s performances in other films while we were filming. He’s somebody who truly seems to love acting. He’s a good, smart guy. He did a very good job in the movie.”

That doesn't sound like he's diminishing JGL, but more like he didn't work with him very much. For those still holding out hope that JGL is Robin or Nightwing, I would take this to mean he's not.

* Although we should note they will not have to make that choice until The Amazing Spider-Man hits. If that film does not do well, look for Warner Bros to change their tune.

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