Bale Says He's Taken Off Batman Cowl For Last Time
Mon, November 28, 2011 
It's always interesting to wonder where the character of Batman would be on film if it wasn't for one Christopher Nolan. Sure there are a lot of other capable people involved with bringing The Bat back to the big screen in the right way, but he is the one wearing the cowl, metaphorically speaking of course.
What about Bale? By some inside accounts Bale was actually the choice of the studio and Nolan was looking at other contenders. Hard to imagine anybody else stomping around in a black rubberized suit at this point. Bale has owned the role but not to a point where it has clouded his career. He was a solid actor before and he'll continue to be a solid actor after Batman glides away.
We've been hearing that this is "the end of Batman" after The Dark Knight Rises and the finality is all over the early marketing for the film. The funny thing is, just because Christopher Nolan is moving on from the character, doesn't mean that WB will "kill the Batman". In fact they are exploring multiple options; Justice League, World's Finest, a reboot, and a film that takes place within the 8 year period between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
Now through the Phillipine Daily Enquirer Christian Bale has chimed in on his future as the Caped Crusader:
“I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I’m taking that cowl off. I believe that the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it’s all done. Everything’s finished. It’s me and Chris – that will be the end of that Batman era.”
More of the same, "end of that Batman era", "Last time I'm taking that cowl off." Finality. Although it is the end of Nolan's Batman, and possibly his sometimes strained relationship with WB, I'm not actually so sure about Bale. You wonder if they throw him some Johnny Depp style doubloons at him then he might strike the pose one more time. Stranger things have happened.
Reader Comments (2)
I don't know where you guys got your sources, but I distinctively remember John Papsidera, the guy who did the casting for a lot of films including BB and TDK, guest speaking at Santa Monica College in Feb 05, a couple months before Begins opened and discussed the film industry in whole. What I remember was that Nolan's first choice had been Bale but Warner Bros wouldn't let him take Bale over concerns about his weight. This was around the June of 2003. Bale then quickly gained a lot of mass for his second screen test (barely a months and a half passed) and the final 4 candidates were Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, Cillian Murphy, and Bale. Papsidera said that Gyllenhaal was very close due to Nolan's interest in his performance in Donnie Darko' but it was pretty much a done deal once Nolan saw American Psycho and to a lesser extent 'Equilibrium'.
Btw if you're wondering what the screen test was, at the time nobody saw Begins so none of us knew what the context of the scene was like. It was the Ducard/Bruce fireplace ("you're stronger than your father") and the Rachel/Batman first meeting at the monorail station scene. A bit long, but just wanted to share some memories.
As for the Johnny Depp thing, I think Bale does projects for himself (I still think he thought there was some potential for that trainwreck called Terminator Salvation) and Depp does things to please his fans, even if it means a cameo for that crappy Sandler movie that just came out.
All things come to an end. As long as Nolan and Bale give us another great Batman film I would be happy. Now I'm curious who will play Batman after Christian Bale?