Before Ben Affleck was cast as Batman, there were a lot of rumors and speculation surrounding Christian Bale’s return to the role. One rumor claimed that Warner Bros. wanted to pair Christian Bale’s Batman with Henry Cavill’s Superman, and bring Christopher Nolan in as a producer. Another ridiculous rumor stated that Warner Bros. was willing to pay Bale $50 million to come back. Christian Bale is currently promoting his new movie Exodus: Gods and Kings and is using it as an opportunity to put these rumors to rest.
While speaking with Esquire, Bale explains that he was never approached by Warner Bros. to play Batman again after The Dark Knight Rises, and that he certainly wasn’t offered $50 million:
ESQ: Is it true you were offered Bond before Daniel Craig?
CB: No. I’ve never heard of that. Equally untrue about them coming to me for Batman, before Ben Affleck.
ESQ: To continue the franchise, you mean?
CB: Yes. I think it’s the right decision. People were talking about this obscene amount of money they were saying was thrown at me. No. I didn’t have a single conversation with anybody about ever playing the role again.
ESQ: Still, never say never, eh?
CB: I think, probably with that, it’s never. Because I can’t help but feel it would just be a spoof on it. You know what I mean?
In another interview, this time with IGN, Bale said that his Batman doesn’t belong in any other movie:
“I do think that [Batman] is a character that could have kept on going and going and going, but I think it was right for Chris [Nolan] to finish it where he did. And ours doesn’t belong in any other version at all.”
So there you have it. A lot of the rumors that have been going around the past couple of years have been put to bed. Warner Bros. decided to reboot Batman with Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and production on that movie has officially wrapped. Now bring on the teaser trailer!
