For many, Christian Bale defined Batman for a generation, having played the iconic character in three films directed by Christopher Nolan, culminating with The Dark Knight Rises. In the time since, the Caped Crusader has been recast, but the impression left by Bale is undeniable. Really, countless fans have kept their fingers crossed in hope that he’ll eventually take up cape and cowl once again.
As was to be expected, his successor, Ben Affleck has accrued a generous fanbase of his own, having already put in appearances in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad and Justice League. By now, you’d think that Bale would’ve seen at least one of those, but according to what he said on a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, that’s not the case:
“I have not [seen Ben Affleck’s Batman]. Yes I’m interested [in seeing it], my son seemed like he was really interested, but then I realized he just wanted to see the trailer and that was it—I tend to go see films that [my kids] want to see. I have to confess I’m not a huge superhero film fan. People seem surprised at that, I don’t know why. I’ve not seen any of the Avengers films or any of those films at all. I hear they’re very good, but I’m quite happy just hearing they’re very good.”
To be real, there are probably some who’ll use this quote to lob hatred at Batfleck, but they really shouldn’t. Like Bale said, he’s interested in seeing these movies, but actors lead very busy lifestyles. After all, it took Michael Keaton some time before seeing The Dark Knight, but he ended up really enjoying it.
Taking all that into account, simple curiosity dictates that Bale will view at least one of Affleck’s turns as Batman because there’s a sort of brotherhood that exists among any group to have played icons of this magnitude. And when that happens, we’ll be just as curious as any of you to hear his verdict.
