Prepare to be happy or sad, depending on where you stand on the issue, but the rumor of Christian Bale donning the cowl as Batman once again for the JUSTICE LEAGUE film has been officially debunked by the actor. While promoting his upcoming drama OUT OF THE FURNACE, Bale spoke with Entertainment Weekly, confirming that he was out of the Bat-business and was looking forward to passing the torch to another actor. The speculation that he had been in talks seem to be up in smoke as the actor moves on to a host of other projects and WB starts to kick the tires on their own cinematic universe now that MAN OF STEEL is a massive success.
Here's the word from EW:
“We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That’s enough. Let’s not get greedy,” says Bale. “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 [THE DARK KNIGHT RISES].’ 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.”
The actor says he hasn’t even been involved in official talks about a Justice League movie. ”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.” But he says he’s not sad to pass Batman’s cowl into new hands: “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.”
So, there you have it. Although I thought it would be great to bring Bale back into the mix initially, now I'm thinking it's time to switch it up. I'm sure some will still hold out hope, but the fact is, JUSTICE LEAGUE is years away and Bale isn't getting any younger. In my opinion, recasting is paramount, especially if they're sticking with Cavill as Superman, which they are. Some new blood injected into a burgeoning new comic book world will do WB and DC good.
What do you think? Do you support Bale's stance or still wish he'd return to Gotham?