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DARK KNIGHT RISES NEWS

'The Dark Knight Rises' Will Be Christian Bale's Last Batman Film

by Ethan Anderton
November 23, 2010

Though Chris Nolan has confirmed he's definitely directing The Dark Knight Rises, for a while now, there have been rumblings that this sequel will likely be the filmmaker's last in the franchise, and perhaps the conclusion of a supposed trilogy. More support to those rumors comes from a recent interview with Christian Bale from E! Online. The actor said very simply, "The thing is that this will be, I believe, unless Chris says different, this will be the last time I'm playing Batman." And if he's going off what he's heard or talked about with Nolan, I think it's safe to say The Dark Knight Rises will also the his last Batman film as director. Read on!

Now it sounds like Nolan is going to wrap up his take on The Caped Crusader as neatly as possible, but you can bet Warner Bros. will be keen on continuing the franchise even after Nolan and Bale leave it behind. The studio will also likely try their best to keep them around for another film (if not another trilogy), but I'm willing to bet neither Nolan or Bale want to keep this going for much longer. But before we even start thinking about more Batman films with Nolan and Bale, we're still waiting for details on The Dark Knight Rises. Unknown factors still include what role Tom Hardy will be taking and exactly what female roles will be showing up in the sequel. Here's hoping we find out those details very soon. Are you cool with The Dark Knight Rises being the last Batman film for Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan?

Related categories: Casting, Movie News, TDKR News

Robbie

I can live with it. I'd rather have a decent ending to this franchise then it going on for three more lame movies.
Mortuus

yes this should be the end of it. this isn't a horror movie that needs to go on for 10 sequels, it has been a very well-done and amazing adventure and it deserves an incredible conclusion to go along with it. As much as i love it i would rather is it concluded in a good fashion then have it be some long drawn out thing that by the 5th movie nobody cares about, and then you hire actors to fill seats such as Arnold and George Clooney.../cough
RFabry

I think if they want to stop with the Batman trilogy, good for them. Rather than keeping it going when they don't really want to. That will just lead to awfulness.... And that is a word. But what I would really like to see is Christopher Nolan have all that time after the trilogy id finished to work on other, more original, films. Even though these films are quite original, I still get the feeling of Batman all throughout it. So seeing something like Memento, or Inception again would be wonderful.
Lincoln

It was pretty obvious that it was gonna be the last one..
SuicidalOptimist

Was anybody really thinking he would make more Batman movies? I thought it was clear that Bale and Nolan work on a Batman trilogy and then move on to other projects. I mean, I never saw any rumors that either one was considering more than three movies involving Batman. So, to me these news really aren't news at all. *shrugs*
Chris5g

Ya i hope it ends with a bang on the 3rd and then Nolan moves on to Superman , i think that will be his next few masterpieces after DKR
Interested

... after fixing the Batman franchise Nolan should fix the Star Wars prequel trilogy...

Bewitching

There is nothing that can fix the Star Wars prequel trilogy, not even Nolan and his brilliance. Lucas really F***ed those up. It was a sad day when a man of Lucas' talent ruined his own franchise by releasing those 3 films.

judasbarron

Not glad this may be their last Batman film but as the saying goes: All good things must come to an end! A trilogy is good enough.
Voice of Reason

Im fine with it, I'd actually enjoy seeing a Batman who doesnt growl every line so ridiculously. I love Nolans Batman, no doubt, but likely for me, the highest point of the series will probably lie with Ledger. Classically, the Batman is nothing without the Joker and his inclusion made the last movie astounding beyond any "dark" thematic tone. Keep Shumacher away from the series and keep the nips off the suit and I'll be there for every movie after Nolans 3rd.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=609810894 Suzanna Marie

Uh, NO. You want campy, go watch Adam West's offering. The rest of us actually like the realistic gritty Batman, thank you very much...

Xerxex

We only need three.
ORionCOmplex

I hope they end it well and move on. Unfortunately the studio is just gonna step in and ruin the great things nolan has done with the franchise after he leaves.
carlos

After this movie they should just a different Batman live on in the Justice League universe, leave the realistic, dark and gritty Batman behind for a couple decades and bring back campy, pun filled Batman so he can team up with Wonder Woman and Superman.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=609810894 Suzanna Marie

Uh, NO. You want campy, go watch Adam West's offering. The rest of us actually like the realistic gritty Batman, thank you very much...

http://www.cine-escape.com Sakyo

I think is the better thing to do... hope somebody take the place of this franchise...
Dan

@ 12 bring back a Batman that ruined Batman for two decades? I certainly hope not. Hopefully they start up a Batman series that's not as realistic as the Nolan films, but are more like the later comics (80's-present). There are some fantastic storylines that they could use a a baseline in a movie. Also, start gearing him up to be tied into other DCU hero movies.
BinaryChaos

I wouldn't be surprised if the Studio hires Sam Raimi to pick up where Nolan left off with the franchise. There is a joke waiting to happen I feel...
http://www.nicksears.com Nick Sears

#1 Nailed it. As much as I want to be told new stories each year, I don't want every drop squeezed out and falls back into being lame batman movies. Leave with the respect and honor the character deserves, and I think Nolan will do justice to just that. Maybe - MAYBE - have a cameo in a justice league movie or maybe even the next Superman, but even that has to be treated sooo delicately and purposefully. I'm sure I'll even get shot down from posting this, but that's also coming from fans that agree with me that the franchise should be right and not just because it makes money.
http://iconocritic.com peloquin

They better show us the bat cave in this one if they're ending it.
A5J4DX

i wouldnt mind more but oh well everything comes to an end
D.

Totally agree with 18# everything comes to an end. But i would sorry for it, for me was the best comic adaptation ever. Spiderman was good, but Nolan made Batman perfectly, especially The Dark Night. I hope this End's as the perfect was until now.
D.

Sorry about the comment's errors. I hope the end be perfect as every movie until now.
Docteur Baron (a.k.a Lazarus Leonis)

We need...a Bat cave in the feel. He doesn't need to call it a "Bat Cave" but we need this time around to feel it IS that, as we will feel this is Batman's & Bruce's true workplace. We need a trophy room a room for his suits and tools and of course a revamped Bat SUV lol. But this final movie needs....NEEDS....ABSOLUTELY....to feel like THIS is the Batman that has, will and always will be in popular culture in movies and be a reference for years to come when we speak of one of comics...greatest...hero in the idea...a young boy with a hard past, can become a city's ultimate guardian of justice....BATMAN. Amen...
Brian

@Voice of Reason - So, you'd rather him be like Super Man and take off his glasses and no one fucking recognizes him? The voice is part of his disguise, and makes it realistic. OT: Yes and no. These have been the only (yeah, ONLY) good Batman movies to date. I want them to keep coming, but I also don't want it to end up like SAW. If I had to pick, it should end with a bang and not a cliffhanger.
Aaron C

Notice Bale said "...I believe, unless Chris says different..." That's pretty open. Especially if Nolan decides to do more Batman movies. Of course, we've suspected (and Nolan has pointed to) this being the final 'Nolan' Batman. This does make it sound, though, that Bale is open to doing more if Nolan is involved and/or leaves it open. But this isn't anything we didn't know or suspect before.
Cody w

A trilogy is perfect thats fine with me, I can also see superhero movies dying out a bit after this comes out. I hope we dont see any other versions of Batman at least for another 10 years. Nolan will end this with an epic bang, I have no doubt about that.
Adam

I'm sure there will be more Batman movies. Especially if the next one makes billions. I'm sure they will be able to find suitable replacements for Nolan and Bale.
Cracky

This isn't news. It's confirmation. Anyone who was expecting anything else from Bale/Nolan was simply fooling themselves. By all means: More Batman movies would be wonderful-- but Nolan's are a tough act to follow.
DoomCanoe

if more are made we will have a new director a new batman a new joker the intro to robin and Alfred will still be the same until he dies does that sound good to anyone?
Eli

I like the idea that this may be the last. The series has been successfully revived. I'd love to hear news that Nolan has Bale and D'caprio working together on something bigger than Inception.
Said

FUUUUUCK!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont want it to be like the old batman movies where there are like 10 different batmans!!!
Brandon Collier

So long as 'The Dark Knight Rises' is fucking EPIC, it's ok that it's the final one. Good things also come in three's and so far Nolan, the cast & crew are 2/2!
Fisherr

I knew this was a Trilogy from the very first beginning, so i don't expect that the same crew will be back for a 4th movie or another trilogy to be honest.
nathen

*6 I seen you wrote that u think Superman will be the next masterpiece, i hope ur not saying TDK was a masterpiece lol CAUSE IT WASNT.
D.

Wasnt a masterpiece 32#? Really? What comic book movie could be compared to TDK? Was flawless to me... just perfect.
roxsta

Wrap it up with batman v superman summer 2014
nathen

*6 With all do respect, Nolan has taken away the comic book feel, for what made the batman character so great, its trying to be to realistic now. If you ask me Batman Begins was a way better film because it was realistic to a point but yet it still kept a bit of comic book fasion. Lets not all forget that Batman is not ment to be realistic, its ment to be a different world where the unthinkable can happen. By the way the editing of TDK wasnt great, scenes jumped from 1 to the other to much. And there is 2 scenes where no one seems to be able to notice in the film - Batman drops Eric Roberts from a high building and then a couple of scenes later, Eric is standing talking to someone in the hospital LMAO his legs would have been shattard im afraid lol. So please, dont call this film Flawless ( No film is )
nathen

in my last coment i said it was for *6 but it was actully for *33 By the way i totally agree with *34
I am

Who expected something else anyway? These 2 are the finest and if one goes, it is normal for the others to follow Anyway, I'm still waiting for the oscar for Bale, he needs it. After Batman, he will receive plenty of offers, hope he choses well! Anyway pt 2 #36, you sound like you would make a killing in the film world with your knowledge Who cares if this or that was a masterpiece, it made a billion dollar and Inception looks like it will reach there too. But that's besides the point. The real issue is this: Where y'all works so that we can compare loll! Unless you can come up with something better, no need to see flaws in other people's works; it just hot air.
john

simple, if bale doesn't want to do it anymore but more importantly nolan then end it its simple, nolan put batman back on the map with an amazing movie, the buck should end with him, he is an amazing director. i just hope we see cat women in this one done well, like the amazing performance of ledger that was different compared to Nicholson i hope cat women will be the same. i thought selma blair would be great but someone like kate beckinsale, or some really bad ass women who has a sexyiness to her but a disturbed dangerous and slightly twisted look to her as well that makes you really think you dont want to cross her.
http://daftbot.com Kent Lundblad

I think they should end it here with Nolan, and then skip ahead 40 years and do Batman Beyond as a trilogy of films...
nathen

*37 i dont see where ur coming from to be honest lol. Im just trying to say that the film was not flawless, and dont you think its strange why i think Begins was a 5 star film but yet i think TDK was a 3 star. people seem to like TDK alot because Heath Ledger died.
bimbamboom

yes, they SHOULD end it here....BUT YOU KNOW THEY WONT!!!! THEY WILL KEEP PUMPING OUT CRAPFEST AFTER CARPFEST AS LONG PEOPLE WILL PAY A F***ING DOLLAR TO SEE IT!!!.....jmo....
Branden01

I would like to see christian bale staring as batman in a justice league movie atleast. We gotta keep up wit the avengers movie considering da justice league has better heros
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=609810894 Suzanna Marie

Uh, NO. You want campy, go watch Adam West's offering. The rest of us actually like the realistic gritty Batman, thank you very much...