Christian Bale Resigns As Batman

It’s the end of an era: Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan are officially done with the Masked Manhunter.

If you’ve been waiting with bated breath for an announcement that Warner Bros. has secured Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan for yet another Batman film, you should give up now. Bale has just announced that he and Nolan are officially finished with Batman, ending the longest actor/director team-up when it comes to live-action adaptations of the character.

Speaking to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Bale talked about how he won’t be playing the character any longer, now that The Dark Knight Rises is finished:

“I wrapped a few days ago so that will be the last time I’m taking that cowl off. I believe the whole production wrapped yesterday, so it’s all done. Everything’s finished. It’s me and Chris – that will be the end of that Batman era.”

This news isn’t exactly surprising, since unofficial rumors that Bale and Nolan would be moving on after The Dark Knight Rises have been circling for a while. However, it’s not entirely certain what’s in the future for Batman, though more rumors point at Warner Bros. rebooting the character so the company can make another stab at laying the groundwork for Justice League film franchise, in spite of the colossal failure that was Green Lantern.

Bale holds the record for playing the Caped Crusader on the big screen, while Nolan also holds the record for directing Batman films. Prior to this, the duo was tied with Michael Keaton and Tim Burton (but we can all agree that those Batman movies weren’t nearly as good as Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). However, Kevin Conroy has played Batman for the longest amount of time: The man has regularly voiced the character ever since he took on the starring role in Batman: The Animated Series.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer via MTV