Christian Bale gives thoughts on Phoenix as Joker and Pattinson as Batman

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Christian Bale had his time with the cape and cowl as Batman from 2005-2012 in Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy, so he knows just as well as anyone what it’s like to step into both the suit and the city of Gotham. With the new movie JOKER starring Joaquin Phoenix on the horizon (and winning rave reviews and awards), and with Robert Pattinson set to don the Batsuit next, people have been itching to get Bale’s thoughts on their castings. He was asked about both projects while at TIFF, and the former Batman has nothing but praise for the two latest to take on the iconic characters.

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 “Joaquin is one of the best actors around, and obviously I worked with Heath, and it’s a brave thing to follow up that performance,” he said to ET Canada about Phoenix while on the carpet for FORD V. FERRARI. “He always makes really interesting choices and I’m dying to see it. Wish them the best with that.”

He offered fewer words for Pattinson being the new Batman, but said the actor is “a fantastic choice, really interesting.” He also offered some advice to Pattinson while speaking with Variety alongside FERRARI co-star Matt Damon and director James Mangold.

“Oh, the same as for Ben, just be able to pee by yourself. You don’t feel much like a superhero when you can’t take a piss by yourself.”

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While surely there have been advances in Batsuit-peeing-tech since Bale's day, Pattinson already seems to feel right at home in the suit. The actor reflected on getting to try on a suit while doing a screen test for the part, saying, "You do feel very powerful immediately." But he also had to have several people shove his ass into the thing, so maybe that diminishes the power, somewhat.

As for Bale's comments, he seems to be in the same boat as many of us: Both of these actors are terrific, and he can't wait to see them do some amazing work. Phoenix is already being lauded for his work and seems to be a shoo-in for a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars, while the movie itself won the prestigious Golden Lion at TIFF, giving it some major award clout. We still have a ways to go when it comes to seeing Pattinson in the role as Batman, but already plenty of people see him as an inspired choice who has proven himself more than ready thanks to great work in smaller movies over the years. Now if only DC and Warner Bros. had plans to pit them against each other in a future movie…

JOKER is in theaters October 4.