More on The Dark Knight Rises: Christopher Nolan Talks Batman 4, Christian Bale Explains His Facial Hair
Posted 03.01.11 by Ryan
Whenever director Christopher Nolan makes a Batman movie, rumors begin to circulate rapidly throughout the web. The latest sequel, The Dark Knight Rises, is no different, often making the deciphering of the truth and rumors a difficult task. A few new details have recently come to light about the sequel, perhaps finally putting one or two of the rumors to rest.
Nolan has insisted that The Dark Knight Rises will be "the last chapter" in his "Batman saga". Even so, when Christian Bale said he would return for Batman 4 if Nolan would return, fans couldn't help but wonder if the director would consider a fourth installment. Prior to the weekend's Oscar ceremony, Nolan again reiterated to MTV that The Dark Knight Rises would indeed be his last.
Yes [it's the last]. We're very much excited about really finishing a trilogy and giving a conclusion to our story. And that's what we're doing.
Joining the cast this time around is Tom Hardy as the dangerous Bane and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, otherwise known as Catwoman. "Once you see the film in 2012, you will completely understand why they were the perfect choice for these characters," Nolan said of the newcomers.
While Nolan has remained coy on whether Hathaway will play both iterations of the character, correcting reporters that Hathaway is only playing "Selina Kyle" and not saying more, Hathaway referred to her role as "Catwoman" during an Oscars-related appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
For those that tuned in to the Oscars and saw Bale looking like a well-dressed homeless man, the actor explained to The LA Times that the facial hair was for director Yimou Zhang's 13 Women of Nanjing. "When I finish the movie in China, it’s straight to Batman," Bale revealed. "Much more Batman."
For this sequel, Bale won't need to put on any weight to play the role, like he did for 2005's Batman Begins, having lost a tremendous amount of weight for The Machinist. Bale told EW after winning his Best Supporting Actor Oscar that he may be finished with his dramatic weight shifts to play different characters.
I’m getting a little bit older now. I'm starting to recognize if I do too much, there may be no coming back from it. I don't have quite that same mentality which I did only a few years back, where I felt I was invincible and it didn't matter what I did … I just want to really be smart about any other body alterations that I make in the future. I know that too many of them just, you know, there’s only so much your body can take. I'm happy that I've done what I've done. Who knows. Maybe that will be the last of it. I've said that a few times before.
The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20, 2012. Sir Michael Caine and Gary Oldman co-star.