Christian Bale Recalls Having 'People Laugh at Me' When He Told Them About His Serious Batman

Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection Christian Bale as Batman in The Dark Knight (2008)

When it comes to his Batman portrayal, Christian Bale has the last laugh.

Ahead of the release of Thor: Love and Thunder, in which he plays villain Gorr the God Butcher, the 48-year-old actor recalled in an interview with The Washington Post how he wasn't taken seriously by many when he first told them about The Dark Knight films.

"I would [tell people] we're going to sort of do Batman, but take him seriously," said Bale. "I had tons of people laugh at me and just say, 'Well, that's just not going to work at all.' "

Bale played Bruce Wayne/Batman in all three films, starting with 2005's Batman Begins and ending with The Dark Knight Rises (2012). The trilogy, directed by Christopher Nolan, earned around a combined $2.5 billion at the global box office and even earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Academy Award for his portrayal as the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight.

"It's wonderful to be a part of a trilogy that proved those people wrong," Bale told the Post. "I'm not certain if it kickstarted [the Marvel Cinematic Universe] but it certainly helped along the way."

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Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection Christian Bale as Batman in The Dark Knight (2008)

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The Dark Knight trilogy is known for its darker take on Batman's story. This year's The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, took a similar approach.

Nolan's films followed those from Tim Burton (1989's Batman and 1992's Batman Returns) and Joel Schumacher (1995's Batman Forever and 1997's Batman & Robin).

Last month, Bale told ScreenRant that he would be open to appearing in a potential sequel — but Nolan, 51, would have to be on board.

"In my mind, it would be something if Chris Nolan ever said to himself, 'You know what, I've got another story to tell.' And if he wished to tell that story with me, I'd be in," the actor said.

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Bale recently admitted to Variety that he had yet to see Pattinson's performance in The Batman.

"I still haven't seen it. I will see it. Listen mate, it's amazing how few films I see. Every director I work with, I've seen a couple of their films and they're always looking at me going, 'Are you kidding?' " he said. "I like to really savor films and I don't watch too many."

"But I will, I certainly will," Bale insisted. "Robert is an absolutely wonderful actor. We bumped into each other, talked a little bit about it ahead of time, and I heard wonderful things."

Thor: Love and Thunder hits theaters Friday.