In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Christian Bale opened up about his reaction to Ben Affleck playing the Dark Knight. After The Dark Knight Rises it seemed Christian Bale had done his time as Batman. Bale is certainly considered to have done one of the best interpretations of Batman to date. The Dark Knight trilogy really did bring Batman back to the mainstream. Since Michael Keaton in ’89 no one has brought this much respect and talent to the franchise. While I do have a special place in my heart for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, nothing compares to the way Christopher Nolan brought the Caped Crusader to the big screen in such a new and gritty way. Burton and Nolan are the two that have seemed to really capture not only the darkness of Gotham but also of the duality of Batman and Bruce Wayne.
Christian Bale, for a younger audience, will always be Batman. That is why I feel that the announcement of Batfleck was received with such criticism. Let’s be honest, did Christian Bale not get the same amount of fan hate until he blew the role out of the water? Bale did seem to have some strong feelings about his involvement with the character. He had this to say when discovering that Ben Affleck would be taking the reigns as Batman,
“I’ve got to admit initially, even though I felt that it was the right time to stop, there was always a bit of me going, ‘Oh go on… Let’s do another.’ So when I heard there was someone else doing it, there was a moment where I just stopped and stared into nothing for half an hour. But I’m 40, The fact that I’m jealous of someone else playing Batman…I think I should have gotten over it by now. I haven’t spoken with Ben, but I emailed him offering bits of advice that I learned the hard way. I would imagine he is doing everything he can to avoid anything that I did.”
Who wouldn’t regret not reprising their role as the Dark Knight? Bale is not the only one to express this want in the past few months. Michael Keaton gave specifics on what it would take for him to return to the franchise. Now come on, Keaton would play a great mentoring Bruce Wayne to a young Terry McGinnis. And I can’t be the only Batman fan to want a little Batman Beyond love. Also, Anne Hathaway recently talked to IGN about doing a solo Catwoman film. “I would be totally up for doing it.” she explained. “If Chris was involved. For me, the thing that made doing that part particularly fun was that she existed in his Gotham. Without him I don’t think it would be the same thing.” Hathaway was also asked about her interest in doing a cameo in the new slate of DC movies. “Oh yeah that’d be fun. I’d definitely love that. I want to play her again. I don’t know – this is just speculation, because I do think about it sometimes – I think she’s got an amazing back story,” said Hathaway.
Finally, during the interview, Bale was asked to compare Batman to Moses. Bale will be playing Moses in Ridley Scott’s Exodus. “It’s a little embarrassing to compare Moses to Batman,” Bale laughed. “There are similarities, you know, tragic beginning and then a heroic future. But Moses is a little more violent. I’m sure if there’d been guns around at that time, Bruce Wayne might have had a chance.”
Being both an Affleck and a Bale fan I can confidently say that I support both. Bale did an amazing job bringing the Dark Knight to life on the big screen. I am more than excited to see how Affleck approaches the role, and to see how he melds into the DC Universe.
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Source: Comicbookmovie & IGN
