Christian Bale would be open to a Batman return if Christopher Nolan is involved

The Dark Knight
(Image credit: DC/Warner Bros.)

Despite having not played The Dark Knight in a decade, Christian Bale has revealed he would be open to a Batman return – if director Christopher Nolan asked him.

On the possibility of a fourth Batman movie, Bale told Collider: "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 continued, "We said we would only ever make three. And then I said to myself I'd only ever make it with Chris."

Christopher Nolan’s Bat-Trilogy helped reinvent the comic book icon on the big screen. The three films made a combined $2.5 billion dollars at the box office, introduced Heath Ledger’s Joker to the world, and, crucially, ended on its own definitive terms in The Dark Knight Rises. There may be wriggle room for Bale to put on the cowl again, but only if Nolan comes calling with a killer idea.

Bale, meanwhile, has lived long enough to become the villain over at Marvel Studios. He’s all set to play Gorr the God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder

Speaking at the movie’s press conference attended by Total Film, he remarked on the "great pleasure" in playing a villain: "It's a lot easier to play a villain than it is to play a hero," Bale said. "Everyone is fascinated with bad guys, immediately."

Bale also touched upon the surprise influences (including Kate Bush, naturally) for his portrayal of Gorr in the new issue of Total Film, which is out now.

Want to relive the Caped Crusader’s greatest cinema outings? Here are the best Batman movies, ranked.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.