In three weeks, Ben Affleck’s cinematic Batman reign officially begins with the release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The last Batman solo film, The Dark Knight Rises, came out only four years ago; which means that Christian Bale‘s take on the character is still fresh in the minds of fans. Some have even called Bale’s Batman the best live-action take on the character. However, Bale himself has a much dimmer view of his time as DC’s most popular hero.
“I didn’t quite manage what I hoped I would throughout the trilogy,” explained Bale during a recent interview with Yahoo! Movies. “Chris [Nolan] did, but my own sense of self is like, ‘I didn’t quite nail it.'”
“Batman, he’s just this very, very dark, messed up character,” added Bale. “That was what I found when I put on the suit…It’s his true, monstrous self that he allows to come out in that moment.”
While Bale wanted to make his Dark Knight even darker, he revealed that his ambitions were foiled by the late Heath Ledger’s take on the Joker.
“Heath turned up, and just kind of completely ruined all my plans,” said Bale. “Because I went, ‘He’s so much more interesting than me and what I’m doing.'”
Bale’s failure is largely in his own mind. Not everyone was thrilled with his choice of Batman voice, but Bale was one of the main reasons that Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy was able to resurrect the Batman film franchise. That success inevitably led to the current DC Expanded Universe; which will attempt to bring the other iconic DC heroes to the silver screen for the first time.
How do you feel about the legacy of Bale’s Batman? Light the Bat-signal and share your thoughts below!
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HT: Yahoo! Movies
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
