This summer's hit superhero film "Man of Steel" was not just a way to reboot the dying "Superman" franchise, it was also the first step in a plan to unify several DC Comics super heroes into one universe, culminating in an Avengers-like project, "The Justice League."
The project will officially have to mush on without the man who made DC heroes respected on the modern scale, Batman.
Christian Bale previously said he would not pick up the cowl again unless Christopher Nolan decided to make a fourth installment of the "Dark Knight" franchise, which the director and writer has said isn't going to happen. After that, "Man of Steel" and "Dark Knight" screenwriter David S. Goyer confirmed the news that the Justice League's Batman would be a rebooted character.
"We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That's enough. Lets not get greedy," Bale told Entertainment Weekly. "Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying 'We're about to make the third.' We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well."
In fact, not only will he not be picking up the Dark Knight where the third movie left off, he has no involvement with the "Justice League" project at all.
"I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I've literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a 'Justice League' movie, that's it," Bale said.
He made sure to squash any rumors of him being bitter about passing the role onto another actor before they start.
"It's a torch that should be handed from one actor to another," he said. "So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with."
