Christian Bale Reveals He Would Return to Batman Role on One Condition

Christian Bale isn’t ruling out a return to Batman completely, although the actor does have pretty steep conditions for reprising his role as the Caped Crusader. After appearing as Bruce Wayne in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Bale told PopCulture.com’s sister site ComicBook.com that he would only return to his role as the superhero if Nolan was the one who asked.

“For me, that would be a matter of Chris Nolan, if he ever decided to do it again and if he chose to come my way again, then yeah, I would consider it because that was always our pact between each other is we would just stick to it,” he told ComicBook, adding how he has been kept in the “dark” and fed “s—” about any possible returns. “We said we would only ever make three and then I said to myself, and I’d only ever make it with Chris.”

While talking to Screenrant, Bale echoed similar sentiments. “I had a pact with Chris Nolan. We said, ‘Hey, look. Let’s make three films if we’re lucky enough to get to do that. And then let’s walk away. Let’s not linger too long,’” Bale said. “In my mind, it would be something if Chris Nolan ever said to himself, ‘You know what, I’ve got another story to tell.’ And if he wished to tell that story with me, I’d be in.” 

Even with that sliver of hope for fans of Bale’s Batman, there don’t appear to be any plans in the making, as the actor said “no one’s ever mentioned it to” him. “No one’s brought it up,” he added. “Occasionally people say to me, ‘Oh, I hear you were approached and offered all this.’ And I’m like, ‘That’s news to me. No one’s ever said that.’”

Bale hasn’t stepped away from superhero stories altogether, however, making his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Thor: Love and Thunder as Gorr the God Butcher opposite Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman. Bale revealed to Deadline that his transformation into the terrifying villain was one of the more challenging parts of filming, as he sported long nails that made tasks very difficult. 

“It rendered me completely incapable of everything. I was pathetic,” the actor said at the Hollywood premiere. “I found myself thinking things like, ‘I don’t think I can walk because I’ve got long nails.’ It affected my brain. I was like, ‘I can’t eat, I’ve got long nails.’ I was trying to type. I couldn’t do anything.” When it came to his influences as the villain, Bale cited Nosferatu and a character in musician Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy” video – “even though perhaps the children would have run to the exits screaming had we fully embraced that.”