Christian Bale Gives New Batman His Blessing

With "The Dark Knight Rises" closing the book on Christopher Nolan's Batman, it also — most likely — means the end of Christian Bale in the role of Bruce Wayne, a big loss since the actor is arguably as responsible for the über-popular version of the Caped Crusader. (Hey, not everyone can do that voice!)

When MTV News' Josh Horowitz sat down with Bale, the actor commented on how he would feel seeing someone else put on the cape and cowl. As it turns out, he's looking forward to it "immensely."

"I'm very intrigued to see another interpretation of it at this point," he said.

Batman and Bruce Wayne have always been characters open to a wide variety of interpretations, and Bale has enjoyed many of them throughout the years. "There have been many wonderful ones," he said. "Adam West did it fantastically, spoofing it. I'm sincere. He really did."

Where West's version of Batman was a sendup, Nolan and Bale's take on the Caped Crusader took a dark turn back toward his origins. "We return to the dark, which I'm told is what Bob Kane originally intended when he created this," Bale said. "Chris has managed to make it topical. With Bob Kane, it was topical as well. World War II was breaking out."

The character's ability to morph as the property changes hands has Bale excited to see what's next. "So it would be very interesting to see what someone else does with the character," he said. "I'd be the first one there to watch."

(Spoilers ahead.)

But how would he feel about Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Robin taking over the role, something that was heavily implied by the end of the film? Bale had previously said he never wanted Robin in a Nolan-directed Batman movie, a comment he isn't necessarily backing away from. "I was talking out of turn somewhat, regardless of what my wishes would have been," he said with a laugh. "It was not my choice and never was."

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