Christian Bale Hasn't Seen Ben Affleck's Version Of Batman Yet
"Bat-fleck," you say? Christian Bale isn't really familiar.
During a recent interview on MTV News correspondent Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast, former Batman actor Christian Bale spilled a pretty big confession: He hasn't seen his successor, Ben Affleck, in the cape and cowl just yet.
Fortunately for those who adore Affleck as Batman, Bale's avoidance of him as the Caped Crusader isn't because he harbors a secret disdain for the actor. Rather, Bale simply isn't a big superhero film fan–he's one of probably only a handful of people who haven't seen The Avengers. Bale also noted that while doesn't have a whole lot of interest in getting stuck into DC or Marvel movie fare, he is keen to see Affleck's portrayal. Just don't expect him to race to buy Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice on DVD any time soon.
"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," Bale explained. "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."
Where Bale's version of Batman has been heralded as one of the greatest in the character's canon and the DC film pantheon, with particular regard paid to The Dark Knight, the actor doesn't share quite the same kind of adoration for it. Last year, Bale told Variety he has "mixed emotions" about his Batman trilogy and struggled to deal with the wave of attention that hit him afterward.
"I'm always eternally grateful to [director] Chris [Nolan]. For instance, Rescue Dawn, Werner [Herzog] and I had been trying to put that together for a few years. American Psycho, Mary Harron and I had been trying to put that together for a few years. No one was interested. Why? Me. Suddenly everyone said, 'Yeah, alright. We'll go with him,'" said Bale. "It did change everything. It was the first time I had done a film of that magnitude. That was a real learning curve for me. I wrestled with it for a long time. I still do on occasions. But I'm just learning, hey, accept the good things."
From a critical standpoint, Bale's take beats Affleck's by a long shot. Bale's last turn as Batman, 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, earned an 87 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes; Affleck's most recent performance as the famed DC hero came in 2017's Justice League, which crashed with a 40 percent critical score.
It seems that what Bale doesn't see won't hurt him.