Christian Bale Says He's Open To Another Nolan Batman Movie, And Warner Bros Discovery Should Strongly Consider It
South China Morning Post. Getty Images."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.' 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."
Unlike the well-oiled machine that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Warner Bros. has had immense difficulties in their effort to construct a cogent DC interconnected film universe. They've been far more successful by chucking continuity or other film tie-ins out the window and letting auteurs take the reins to tell their own stories.
After the failure of Zack Snyder's DCEU run — through little fault of his own, I might add — the best DC movies have been Joker and The Batman. In both instances, Warner Bros. gave Todd Phillips and Matt Reeves respectively carte blanche to tell their own stories without having to worry about tying into some larger, multi-film narrative. Joker wound up winning Oscars, and The Batman may launch a trilogy that winds up being the definitive version of the character in live action.
That is, unless Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale come back to the party. Bale himself has admitted to feeling he "didn't quite nail" the character of Batman, and if we're being really honest, the Dark Knight trilogy hasn't aged particularly well.
I know, hot take. I'm not saying they're bad movies by any means. I just think that after Batman Begins, the focus shifted away from Batman and his villains largely overshadowed him. While that's pretty unavoidable in The Dark Knight given Heath Ledger's god-tier performance as the Joker, The Dark Knight Rises didn't do much better in that regard. The Nolan Batman saga's final film was good but a big step down from the prior two. It's super easy, barely an inconvenience to poke a zillion holes in that plot, and again, Tom Hardy's Bane upstaged Bale's Batman.
The big hurdles to a Nolan-Bale reunion for Batman are, obviously, cracking the story, Nolan making up with Warner Bros. after taking his latest film, Oppenheimer, to Universal, and…lots and lots of money. I feel like all these conditions can be met.
As Hubbs has covered extensively, the larger DC film universe is in disarray because of Flash actor Ezra Miller's serious troubles. The new Flash movie has two Batmen reprising their roles in Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck, with elements of the Flashpoint comic storyline meant to help reset the main DC movie timeline. Now that's all in jeopardy. Obviously, Robert Pattinson is off doing his own trilogy at least. Three Caped Crusaders running around, albeit this is expected to be Batfleck's final appearance. Lots of confusion as per usual nevertheless.
So what better way to bring some order to the Joker-esque chaos than to reel in the dynamic duo of Bale and Nolan for one last ride? In the aftermath of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and yet another executive shakeup, there's a fresh chance to mend fences with Nolan and pay him and Bale a felonious amount of money to return.
Finally, regarding the story, a couple cool ideas come to mind. At the end of The Dark Knight Rises, it's heavily implied John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) will take up the mantle as Batman and the legend will live on. Well what if that doesn't go so well, and JGL's Batman dies, which forces the in-hiding, fake-dead Bruce Wayne to secretly return to Gotham and don the cape and cowl again?
If they wanted to do something really different, they could do a time jump, age up Bale a bit, and go full-blown dystopian/futuristic sci-fi with a long-awaited, live-action Batman Beyond. Bale would be in the mentor role and a hotshot young actor would play Terry McGinnis/Batman. There'd be no rush on that, more time to flesh out the script and more time to convince Nolan and Bale to come back.
I understand this is all a pipe dream to expect more Bale-Nolan Batman and that the actor has floated this idea before more than once. However, as long as Bale is maintaining at least a vague interest…I'm going to, well, cape for it. Plus, with Ewan McGregor returning to lead an Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show after many years away, I feel like almost anything is possible.