Could THE DARK KNIGHT Star Christian Bale Return As The DCU's BATMAN?

Could THE DARK KNIGHT Star Christian Bale Return As The DCU's BATMAN? Could THE DARK KNIGHT Star Christian Bale Return As The DCU's BATMAN?

It's DCU rumor time again, and this one is a doozy! Internet scuttlebutt is suggesting that Christian Bale, who played Batman in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy, could return in The Flash.

By MarkCassidy - Feb 10, 2023 01:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Batman

We recently heard that all cameos - including Michael Keaton's Batman - had been removed from the final cut of The Flash (whether that's accurate or not remains to be seen), but could another version of the Caped Crusader show up in order to set up future DCU appearances?

Beyond the Trailer's Grace Randolph - who has posted some solid (and some not so solid) scoops in the past - has heard that a "former Batman" is still set to cameo at the end of The Flash, and "could potentially" stay on as the DCU's Dark Knight for The Brave and The Bold and beyond.

It's assumed she's not referring to Keaton or Ben Affleck (whose involvement has been widely reported), which leaves Val Kilmer, George Clooney, and Christian Bale.

Both Clooney and Kilmer are highly unlikely (in the latter's case, impossible), so by process of elimination, Bale is the most likely candidate.

Could James Gunn and Peter Safran have convinced Bale, who played Batman in Christopher Nolan's trilogy, to don the cape and cowl again? We do know that director Andrés Muschietti recently filmed some additional scenes for the movie, so it's certainly possible.

Even so, we're not putting too much stock in this just yet. Again, Randolph has posted some accurate details before, but she's also been called out by filmmakers - including Gunn - for circulating flat-out nonsense.

Bale is still considered by many to be the best actor to play the iconic vigilante, but if he were to reprise his Dark Knight Rises role and stick around as the DCU's new Batman, we have a feeling it would still be a divisive decision.

What do you guys make of this rumor? Be sure to share your thoughts down below.

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sully
sully - 2/10/2023, 1:21 AM
Doubt it. Bale and Affleck are about the same age.
TheNewYorker
TheNewYorker - 2/10/2023, 1:21 AM
No.
dracula
dracula - 2/10/2023, 1:23 AM
Doubt it

Bale said he wouldnt come back without Nolan

Pretty sure Kilmer is in no shape for long term commitments

Clooney…..just no

Cameo maybe, taking over, no way
DocSpock
DocSpock - 2/10/2023, 1:25 AM
@dracula -

What Drac said. Hic...

Th3Batman
Th3Batman - 2/10/2023, 1:28 AM
@dracula - Nolan had a lunch meeting with Zaslav and Safren a couple months ago...just saying.
UniqNo
UniqNo - 2/10/2023, 1:31 AM
@Th3Batman - Yeah I'm sure that's kind of him trying to steady the WBD ship and apologising in general for how HBOMax and day on date for their theatrical releases debacle when Nolan left and noe wanting future Nolan projects back at WBD instead of Universal.

We can all speculate though.
tmp3
tmp3 - 2/10/2023, 1:36 AM
@Th3Batman - spielberg was at that meeting too, and it wound up being for bullitt not anything with dc
dracula
dracula - 2/10/2023, 1:50 AM
@tmp3 - wonder if there has been any talks for spielberg’s Black Hawks movie.

Black Hawks might not be some big money making franchise with a massive fanbase but it is Spielberg

Spielberg always brings in decent numbers
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 2/10/2023, 3:13 AM
@dracula - lmao, the good old times when DC/WB announced a new bizarre project every few weeks
bobevanz
bobevanz - 2/10/2023, 3:56 AM
@Th3Batman - you realize wb burned that ship with the Tenet botch for hbo max?
Th3Batman
Th3Batman - 2/10/2023, 4:00 AM
@bobevanz - The people who did that aren't at the company anymore. Nolan could get a lot out of WB by agreeing to produce and/or co-write a new Batman movie. I personally don't think any of this is true, but not impossible.
Ryguy88
Ryguy88 - 2/10/2023, 10:05 AM
@dracula - imagine if both Nolan and Bale come back for this? If they really want another billion dollar batman movie, it's probably the easiest way.
ScaryTerry
ScaryTerry - 2/10/2023, 1:23 AM
I came here to say “No.”
AC1
AC1 - 2/10/2023, 1:27 AM
This is almost certainly bullshit, but IF they did somehow convince Bale to return, I'm pretty sure they'd have to go out of their way to basically show that he's actually playing a different version of Batman and not Nolan's version.

I mean, the fact that it's set to introduce Damien Wayne is already a big factor in that, seeing as Bale/Nolan's Bruce only met Talia during the events of TDKR and she died shortly after so presumably didn't have time to have his child (unless Bruce was actually in Bane's prison for the best part of a year allowing her pregnancy and childbirth to go completely unnoticed)

But even beyond that, there's just the fact that Nolan has always been pretty clear his universe is one where Batman is the only costumed hero, there are no aliens or super powered beings, and of course there's also the ending of TDKR to consider which clearly sets up John Blake to inherit the role of Batman and keep the "legend" alive in Gotham; going back on that and bringing back Bruce from his happy ending kinda defeats the whole point of Nolan's trilogy.
pitbull76
pitbull76 - 2/10/2023, 3:16 AM
@AC1 - 2 old although I loved his batman minus the voice this is straight up bs.
UniqNo
UniqNo - 2/10/2023, 1:28 AM
Yeah I call BS...

tmp3
tmp3 - 2/10/2023, 1:34 AM
cannot see bale returning. clooney would be a fun way to redeem his initial turn, but he’s too old to be batman long-term. just gonna assume the latter is the cameo at the end of flash and has no baring on brave/bold.
tmp3
tmp3 - 2/10/2023, 1:34 AM
ryan gosling would be a great choice for a morrison-esque batman dealing with damien, but i don’t think he’d ever sign a 10 movie contract
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 2/10/2023, 3:23 AM
@tmp3 - I love Gosling, but sadly his face shape doesnt look very good in a batcowl.

abd00bie
abd00bie - 2/10/2023, 5:19 AM
@Spawnnn - potato
tchaka
tchaka - 2/10/2023, 1:39 AM
Maybe it's The Bertman.
I really wish it could be Adam West though
Th3Batman
Th3Batman - 2/10/2023, 1:40 AM
I personally don't believe this, however, let's say for a minute it's true, and that they do want a legacy Batman to be their main one due to the movies that verison will bring with them to the table. If that's the case, and that is a major IF, it can't be anyone on that list besides Bale, for these reasons:

1- The Dark Knight Trilogy is by far the most beloved superhero trilogy on the market. Even Rises which gets a lot of online hate has an 87% critic score and a 90% audience score, both on rotten tomatoes. The Dark Knight and its sequel, Rises, both made over a billion dollars.

2- The trilogy's cast, starting with Bale, are all beloved by both fans and general audiences, so you automatically avoid any casting controversy by bringing them back.

3- The league of shadows (or assassins) is a central part of Damian's story, a part that doesn't have to be retold as a result of already being covered in Begins and Rises.

4- John Blake's character was set up to become some kind of hero at the end of rises, while Bruce alept with Talia, so those plot points are already covered.

5- Most importantly, getting Nolan to give his seal of approval in the form of a producing credit, or even a co-writer credit alongside Affleck who may end up directing this, will give this movie and Gunn a massive advantage going into this new universe.

If it's Cloony (Kilmer can't do it), then you get the opposite of the points listed above, on top of the massive uphill battle of trying to promote a sequel to Batman and Robin, the movie that killed the franchise and almost the entire genre.
IronSpider101
IronSpider101 - 2/11/2023, 5:41 AM
@Th3Batman - Bale always made sense for the shared universe gig too as Nolan pretty much highlighted the big events of his Batman career in his 3 movies.

Batman Begins - Origin/Ra's, mob stuff
TDK - Joker, Dent, continued mob stuff, Rachel's death is very much a Jason Todd equivalent from a story-telling perspective.
TDKR - Bane, the back-breaking story, the ending, the sidekick, Catwoman, Talia.

Basically, this is the type of Batman who's had his full Gotham Batman career. It would make sense for this Batman, even if it's not the exact same Batman he played in those movies, to be the one who's challenged by the sudden influx of aliens and metahumans. The type who's gonna be going out in the day with the rest of the JL. You have the audience connection AND you have a very interesting path to evolve that character.
DCRISEN0609
DCRISEN0609 - 2/11/2023, 7:40 PM
@Th3Batman - people also forget the Bruce did have sex with Talia in the DKR..
TyrantBossMedia
TyrantBossMedia - 2/10/2023, 1:48 AM
GTFO.

All of these ridiculous rumors. People with a social media account trying to make themselves feel important and get attention.

And all that these continuous and pointless rumors do is dilute the product and lessen its impact.
MotherGooseUPus
MotherGooseUPus - 2/10/2023, 8:01 AM
@TyrantBossMedia -
itzayaboy
itzayaboy - 2/10/2023, 2:08 AM
There’s no way this is happening. Bale said he wouldn't come back without Nolan.
Th3Batman
Th3Batman - 2/10/2023, 2:18 AM
@itzayaboy - I don't think it would be impossible to get Nolan involved in some way.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 2/10/2023, 5:05 AM
@itzayaboy - If it's a variant Bruce Wayne, then it wouldn't be the same universe and so he could do it without feeling disloyal to Nolan's vision or universe.

It's just a new universe with a legacy actor playing a variant of the one on the Nolanverse.

Could work.
Th3Batman
Th3Batman - 2/10/2023, 7:27 AM
@ObserverIO - I don't think they'd bother bringing him back if they weren't also bringing over his history. There'd be no point.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 2/10/2023, 2:11 AM


Scoop???

ROR, please don't believe everything the guy in the windowless van offering free candy & CBM scoops tells you.
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 2/10/2023, 3:10 AM
assuming she's telling the truth: why the [frick] would you randomly spoil such a cool moment? man, she sucks so much
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