Before Michael Keaton was confirmed to be returning as Bruce Wayne in The Flash for a second time after casting some doubt on his potential involvement, the rumor mill instantly sprang into life with reports that Warner Bros. would focus their attention on recruiting Christian Bale for a cameo if Tim Burton’s Dark Knight didn’t commit.
When Keaton said he wasn’t guaranteed to show up, shooting was weeks away from starting and it was too late to rejig a script that featured him in what director Andy Muschietti described as a substantial role, so The Flash needed at least one more Batman in addition to Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader, but Bale always felt like a long shot regardless of the situation.
You can almost feel the actor’s annoyance any time he gets asked about the hero in interviews when it’s been a decade since he last suited up, and that’s without mentioning the fact that he’s never made a single cameo appearance in anything, despite his career dating back 35 years to his beginnings as a child star.
However, insider Daniel Richtman is now reporting that Bale is still in talks to drop by The Flash, even with Keaton locked, loaded and in England shooting scenes as we speak. Of course, the word “still” is a bit of a misnomer when there’s never been any official word from anyone other than Richtman himself that the star of the Dark Knight Trilogy had spoken to Warner Bros. and DC Films about a potential comeback, and given that the Academy Award winner turned down a fourth solo outing under the cape and cowl and has long since closed the door on that chapter of his life, you’re probably best not hedging your bets on this one happening.
