If you’re an actor in 2019, there’s a good chance you’ve starred in (or are about to star in) one of the countless reboots, remakes, sequels and spinoffs hitting our silver screens right now. But for Christian Bale, it’s not that simple. When it comes to Batman, it’s a matter of respect.
In a recent interview with the Toronto Sun, Bale explained why he once turned down an offer to star in Batman 4.
“We never were arrogant to assume that we had an opportunity beyond one film at a time,” Christian Bale said, referring to the three Batman films he starred in between 2005 and 2012. “That’s something Chris [Nolan] 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.”
“Chris had always said to me that we were fortunate to be able to make three we would stop,” he said. “Then when they inevitably came to us and said, ‘How about 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.’”
“That’s why we, well Chris, stepped away,” he said.
It’s pretty heart-warming that Bale walked away from the franchise out of respect for Nolan’s wishes, and it sounds like it ended up working out for the best for both of them.
Since The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan went on to direct iconic films including Inception, Interstellar and Dunkirk, and Christian Bale has landed roles in equally-as-impressive flicks like American Hustle, The Big Short, Vice and most recently, Ford v Ferrari.
Then there’s also the fact that 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, directed by Zack Snyder, failed to meet expectations at the box office and racked up a measly 28% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite this year’s Joker making over $1 billion at the worldwide box office and becoming the most profitable comic book movie of all time, it sounds like Christian Bale is pretty content with his decision to leave the batsuit behind.