In the history of screen depictions of Batman, Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy generally rank pretty high on various lists, including Variety’s, while Ben Affleck’s more recent versions at least get more respect than George Clooney’s prominent-nipple outing as the Caped Crusader.
Bale has definitely moved on since his “Batman” days, earning an Academy Award and other awards and nominations for such critically acclaimed films as “The Fighter” and “American Hustle.”
But Bale was asked to reflect on the Batman phenomenon in a podcast interview to promote his new film “Hostiles,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
During the interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast with MTV’s Josh Horowitz, Bale admitted that he had not seen the three more recent DC Extended Universe films starring Affleck as Batman, including this fall’s “Justice League.”
“Yes, I’m interested [in seeing it],” Bale said, though he didn’t sound like he was in a rush to make it happen.
He added that he tends to go see films that his kids want to see these days. He said his son “seemed” interested in seeing “Justice League” but then he realized the boy just wanted to see the trailer — “and that was it.”
And even though Bale starred in Nolan’s “The Dark Knight,” one of the most lauded superhero films of all time, he confessed he’s not a big superhero movie fan.
“People seem surprised at that,” he said. “I don’t know why, but I’ve not seen any of the Avengers films or any of those films at all.”
But he added, “I hear they’re very good, but I’m quite happy just hearing they’re very good.”
Bale reportedly extended his good wishes to Affleck back when Affleck first took over the Batman/Bruce Wayne role in 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
The two actors happened to meet at a Los Angeles shop while buying Halloween costumes for their children, Affleck recalled in a 2016 interview with Conan O’Brian. He said Bale offered some valuable advice: “Look, mate, just make sure you’ve got a zipper in that suit. I couldn’t piss for three movies.”
