With Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale walking away from Gotham after "The Dark Knight Rises," the presumption was that Warner Bros. would do anything to have them back and continue the lucrative, iconic franchise. And while in theory it made sense as Nolan’s films changed the comic book game and were wildly successful, as far as Bale is concerned, that was never the case. And while he has admitted to being slightly "jealous" when Ben Affleck got called up to put on the cowl, he concedes it was wise for the franchise to move on.
"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," the actor told Esquire. And while in today’s blockbuster world no one dies and everyone can possibly return, Bale says it’s pretty unlikely he’ll ever be flying around Gotham again.
"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?" he says. And frankly, Bale says he’s getting too old to go back to doing the labor intensive fight sequences.
"It’s always fun. It’s an adrenaline rush beyond belief," Bale says of the change of pace of horse riding and swordplay of his upcoming "Exodus: Gods And Kings." "It’s more fun than doing fight sequences because, you know, I’ve done a lot of them: Batman… I’m sick of that. Man, I’m sick of that! You’ve done it 100 times and you’re just getting slower and slower, and sloppier and people are really starting to punch you. I’ve got a herniated disk from me hearing ‘cut’ and Tom [Hardy] not hearing ‘cut.’ Me totally relaxed and him – boff! – kicking me, and me landing on the concrete steps."
"I thought I was used to it," Bale continued. "Like, no big deal: this is going to hurt for a few days and it’ll fix up. Three years later, you know [I can still feel it]. I suddenly went, ‘Oh shit. I’m 40 now, aren’t I?’ I’m still so immature. There was something I was asked to do recently where they said, ‘It’s a father/son story.’ I’m going, ‘Who’s going to play the dad?’ And you suddenly go, ‘I’m the fucking dad.’ What a moron."
So, sorry folks, Dad Bale is no longer your Batman, but he still gives great interview. See him next in "Exodus: Gods And Kings" when it opens on December 12th.
