No matter who inhabits the role of Bruce Wayne, for a whole generation of film fans, the character will always be Christian Bale.
Robert Pattison may have knocked it out the park as Batman, but we can want both at the same time, right?
For that to happen though, there is one specific thing Christian Bale has requested if he were to consider coming back as the Bat.
Bale has spoken in the past about how when himself and Christopher Nolan set out to make a trilogy of Batman films, they had a very clear agreement.
Advert
He told Screenrant: “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.”
The decision clearly paid off – with the trilogy being highly acclaimed, with The Dark Knight in particular being near universally loved.
Alongside 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, an average rating of 9.0 makes the film the third highest rated film of all time on IMDb.
Add to that an average rating of four and a half stars on Letterboxd and a handful of Oscars – it’s fairly safe to say people love The Dark Knight.
Advert
Whilst Michael Keaton and (very briefly) George Clooney both returned to the role of Batman in recent DC film The Flash, Bale has never returned to the role since The Dark Knight Rises.
For those wanting a fourth instalment of the franchise however, the one condition Bale has is unfortunately a tad unlikely.
He said to ScreenRant: “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.”
Despite this seeming straightforward enough, Christopher Nolan has spoken in the past about his lack of desire to return, bluntly saying ‘no’ when being asked if he would return to the franchise.
A spark of hope was given however when his brother Jonathan Nolan – a co-writer on the trilogy – commented on a possible return for The Dark Knight 4.
Advert
Nolan said that a Dark Knight 4 would be a 'dream', adding: “That period was about 10 years of my life when I got the call to go work on Batman Begins to putting out The Dark Knight Rises - it was epic.
“If I had the chance to go and work on that again, then absolutely.”
Now Chris has finally won an Oscar, winning Best Picture and Best Director for Oppenheimer, maybe the time will be right to bring back Bale as the Bat. We’ll be waiting...
Featured Image Credit: Warner Brothers/Getty ImagesTopics: Batman, Christian Bale, Christopher Nolan, Robert Pattinson, Film