Holy refreshing sense of humility, Batman!
It sounds like Christian Bale really did know when to say goodbye to his role as the Dark
Knight.
Bale has been hot on the publicity trail of late in support of his new race car drama
Ford v Ferrari, in which he plays a racer opposite Matt Damon's mild-mannered car designer.
Recently, the Ford v Ferrari press campaign found the former Batman actor sitting down
with the folks at The Toronto Sun, who used part of their time with him to ask a question
that's long been on the minds of fans devoted to Bale's iconic work in Christopher Nolan's
Dark Knight trilogy.
The question, of course, was this: "Why didn't Bale sign on for a Dark Knight 4?"
Bale's answer to the question is as simple as it is surprisingly humble.
The actor claimed he ultimately decided a fourth turn as the Caped Crusader would have
been, quote, "overindulgent."
That's right — in a time where stars and studios seem to keep lining up blockbuster
sequels to milk every single penny out of a franchise, Bale, long regarded as a true
"actor's actor," apparently told Warner Bros. "thanks but no thanks" when the studio approached
him about reprising his role as Bruce Wayne for another Dark Knight venture.
And if Bale is to be believed, he did so largely because he didn't want to overstay his welcome
in the role.
"More copycats last night, Alfred, with guns."
"Why don't you hire them and take the weekend off?"
"That wasn't exactly what I meant when I said I wanted to inspire people."
It's worth nothing that Bale's decision was also greatly influenced by the fact that Nolan
was indeed moving on from the Dark Knight franchise.
As Bale continued to wax poetic about why he didn't return for a fourth Dark Knight
flick, he admitted as much — noting that, outside of his own wishes to leave Batman
behind, his decision to walk away from what would've no doubt been a mammoth payday for
Dark Knight 4 was equally out of respect for Christopher Nolan himself.
Bale explained:
"We were never arrogant to assume that we had an opportunity beyond one film at a time.
That's something that Chris always would talk about.
He'd say, 'This is it.
We're making one film.
That's all we've got.'
Then when they came and said, 'You want to go make another?'
It was fantastic, but we still said, 'This is it.
We will not get another opportunity."
Bale went on to offer that while a trilogy was far from a given for Nolan's Dark Knight
saga, it was, if only indirectly, what the director had in mind from the start.
The actor shared:
"Chris had always said to me that if we were fortunate to be able to make three we would
stop.
'Let's walk away after that.'
Then when they [Warner Bros.] inevitably came to us and said, 'How about a No. 4?'
I said, 'No.
We have to stick to Chris' dream, which was always to, hopefully, do a trilogy.
Let's not stretch too far and become overindulgent and go for a fourth.'"
As we all know, Bale and Nolan got two more chapters of their Gotham-set saga after the
success of 2005's Batman Begins.
With 2008's game-changing The Dark Knight and 2011's trilogy-capping The Dark Knight
Rises, they also happened to fashion one of the most celebrated superhero trilogies in
the history of cinema.
While The Dark Knight — the first of the series' sequels — is still widely regarded
as being among the greatest superhero movies ever made, adoration isn't quite as strong
for Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, which continues to divide both critics and fans.
Truth be told, part of the problem with The Dark Knight Rises is that the film itself
feels a bit overstuffed, and teeters frequently on the edge of overindulgent in its own right.
Perhaps Bale and Nolan were smart to end their franchise when they did.
Still, there's little doubt that fans of Nolan and Bale's Dark Knight trilogy would've turned
out en masse for even a massively "overindulgent" Dark Knight 4, though such a film may have
also tarnished the trilogy's mostly impeccable legacy.
While Nolan and Bale's trilogy forever changed the state of Batman's cinematic world — particularly
2008's The Dark Knight, which was anchored by Heath Ledger's unforgettable turn as the
Joker …
"All you care about is money.
This town deserves a better class of criminal — and I'm gonna give it to 'em."
2021 will see moviegoers treated to a fresh, neo-noir take on the Dark Knight coming from
Cloverfield and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes director Matt Reeves.
Simply titled The Batman, the flick will see the beloved comic book character get back
to his detective roots as he seeks to spread his own version of justice across the streets
of Gotham.
While Reeves is still rounding out the cast for The Batman, he's already surrounding lead
Robert Pattinson with a legit murderer's row of venerated acting talent — with Paul Dano
on board to play the Riddler, Zoë Kravitz set to appear as Catwoman, Jeffrey Wright
portraying Commissioner Gordon, and Andy Serkis stepping into the role of Alfred Pennyworth.
With talent like that on board, it's safe to say that Batman is now in the best hands
since Nolan and Bale brought their trilogy to a close.
The Batman is currently slated to shoot in 2020, and will arrive in theaters on June
25, 2021.
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