It is official: Christian Bale is hanging up the cowl. He will no longer play Batman– for the future Justice League movie, or in any other capacity.
The news isn’t surprising. He’s been open about how he’ll only wear that suit for one man: Christopher Nolan, and since Nolan’s been pretty adamant about not returning to Gotham City, well… Bale first donned the cape in 2005 for Batman Begins, relinquishing the costume last year after The Dark Knight Rises. He had a solid seven year run and now feels that it is time to move on.
Bale had this to say:
Chris 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…Â 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.
The torch is up for passing. The question is: who will be the next actor to heed the call of the bat signal? (I mean, other than Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who many fans are pushing for the role after the final scenes of The Dark Knight Rises) With rumors flying about a Justice League film, the next person to play Batman will have a big part in what will almost certainly be a blockbuster film to remember — Warner Bros.’s answer to The Avengers.
Whoever it is, Bale has left big shoes to fill.
(via The Guardian)
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