After three films of donning black rubber and speaking like an angry chainsmoker, Christian Bale has understandably found it hard to let go of Batman – to the point where he has admitted being jealous of Ben Affleck taking on the role for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Speaking to Empire magazine, he said:
When I heard there was someone else doing it, there was a moment where I just stopped and stared into nothing for half an hour. But I’m 40. The fact that I’m jealous of someone else playing Batman … I think I should have gotten over it by now.
He said that he considered going back on his decision to never play the character again (“there was always a bit of me going, Oh go on … let’s do another”), and that he offered Affleck some tips on playing Bruce Wayne: “I haven’t spoken with Ben, but I emailed him offering bits of advice that I learned the hard way. I would imagine he is doing everything he can to avoid anything that I did.”
The film, starring Henry Cavill as Superman, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, is scheduled for release in March 2016. The drip-feed of footage and sneak peeks has already begun, with fans getting a glimpse of the two leads facing off against one another, eyes aglow, at Comic-Con this year; director Zack Snyder has also unveiled pictures of the new Batmobile and Batsuit.
