One of the most popular movie series in recent memory, Christopher Nolan's take on Batman is truly one of the more interesting portrayals of the famed DC Comics hero. While popular celebrities such as Adam West, George Clooney and Michael Keaton have tried their luck taking on the infamous role, Nolan chose to go with cinematic star Christian Bale, a handsome and physically intimidating figure capable of portraying Batman as a true hero. After finding monumental success with "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises," fans everywhere are wondering whether or not Bale will once again put on the black suit.
When Warner Bros. recently announced that the sequel to "Man of Steel" will hit theatres in the summer of 2015, Bale supporters began hinting that they'd love to see him back on screen as Batman, even though Christian himself has previously hinted that his superhero days are over. Though no official comments came from Bale, Matt Goldberg of Collider.com feels as though no single actor is worthy of a tremendous payday to play the superhero.
"No one is worth a huge payday to play Batman. Batman sells himself," Goldberg recently said to the Wall Street Journal. "They could put a monkey or Stephen Baldwin in a Batman costume and it would still be one of the highest grossing movies of the year. Batman is bigger than Bale. He wasn't the first Batman and he won't be the last. In fact, he has an easy out. There's no controversy if he doesn't come back. The 'Dark Knight Trilogy' is over, and that opens the door to a new beginning."
Obviously the thought is that Bale would probably need to be handed a lucrative financial offer to resume his role as the popular character, a figure that the UK Press Association thinks could be upwards of $50 million.
"Why would Christian Bale walk away from what is certainly going to be either the first or second highest grossing movie in the history of cinema?" author Vincent Russell asked. "He could probably make 50 million dollars for being in the movie 20 minutes. And it would be worth every penny to the studio."
In addition to the creation of "Man of Steel 2," Warner Bros. is set on putting together a "Justice League" movie with the superhero triumvirate of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all working together. This type of move would certainly benefit the studio, according to The Guardian, because the creation of a movie complete with popular superheroes as well as the signing of major actors and actresses playing them would not struggle to sell at all.
Though many fans would love to see Christian Bale take on the role of Batman a few more times, the 39-year-old said in July that it may be time for someone else to suit up as the hero of Gotham and that he's excited to see how the future of Batman will be portrayed.
"We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three. That's enough. Let's not get greedy," Bale told Entertainment Weekly. "Chris always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying 'we're about to make the third.' We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well. It's a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. "So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with."
