And the new BATMAN is...

[The Other]

...Christian Bale.

Got this from Dark Horizons (http://www.darkhorizons.com/news.htm):

The new Batman/Bruce Wayne is none other than the "American Psycho" himself, Christian Bale. In a press release issued today, Warners has confirmed that Bale has landed the starring role in Chris Nolan's upcoming new incarnation of the franchise which begins shooting early next year. Of Bale, Nolan says "What I see in Christian is the ultimate embodiment of Bruce Wayne. He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for" whilst WB President Jeff Robinov says "Now that we’ve found the best person to play Batman, we are really looking forward to moving ahead with the rest of our casting, and are excited about the exceptional group we are assembling". Other casting announcements are expected to be announced shortly.

[therealjohng]

I cannot wait to see this. First Chris Nolan is directing, then David Goyer is writing it. Now Christian Bale is Batman. Good Lord! I have more respect for WB for choosing Bale instead of Aston Kutcher. God Damn what a great day this is!

[SkyNet]

Hell ya... i am also very glad theydidnt choose Mr. Fame has gotten to his head Ashton Kutcher.

Bale is an excellent actor and will make this movie excellent. I feel a darker non comical Batman movie coming out, which will be great, in the wein of the First one.

[arby19]

There is a god! This movie is going to be great!

[bowieee]

Woohaaa charlie boy!

Batmans comeback is coming in full force.

[Scarface98.9]

*In Fight Club voice*

*salutes*

In Nolan/Bale we trust...

[Wzd]

Great news!!! but im hoping the rumour of "Ra's Al Ghul" as the main villain isnt true!. Personal he doesnt sound like a very interesting villain and i dont think hes a very recognisable baddy (and i dont think most people would know who he is). The "Scarecrow" would have been much more interesting to watch. What i want in a Batman villain is some messed-up inhuman freak, like Joker, Penguin or Riddler!!! :cool:

[RickySlade]

BOOOOOOOOOOO!

Down with Bale! Up with Keaton!

[Buc_Nonsense]

Oh my god! I am in tears right now(seriously). Bale is perfect for this part. Nolan/Bale, this movie will be awesome. Bale YES!

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by Wzd
Great news!!! but im hoping the rumour of "Ra's Al Ghul" as the main villain isnt true!. Personal he doesnt sound like a very interesting villain and i dont think hes a very recognisable baddy (and i dont think most people would know who he is). The "Scarecrow" would have been much more interesting to watch. What i want in a Batman villain is some messed-up inhuman freak, like Joker, Penguin or Riddler!!! :cool:
So what you're looking for is a very uninteresting villain? I've always figured the first couple Batman flicks already covered that familiar territory

[Duke Nukem]

Originally posted by Wzd
Great news!!! but im hoping the rumour of "Ra's Al Ghul" as the main villain isnt true!. Personal he doesnt sound like a very interesting villain and i dont think hes a very recognisable baddy (and i dont think most people would know who he is). The "Scarecrow" would have been much more interesting to watch. What i want in a Batman villain is some messed-up inhuman freak, like Joker, Penguin or Riddler!!! :cool:

Ra's Al Ghul? I've definitely never heard of that villian. Could anybody tell or describe to me this villian?

[James Logan]

Nolan, Bale, two for two, now let's get WB off the project and we're good. ;)

[bobo_the_clown]

But I thought it was announced that Christopher LLoyd was starring as the scarecrow (the baddie of the film) by Nolan himself? I would have preffered to see Scarecrow as the main villain cos he is one fucked up psycho and with all that emphasis on fear we have some great potential. Though probably theyll just have "Crane" appear in a cameo in lab or summat. This other villain sounds pretty boring IMO. Great that Bale is Batman. But I dont like the choice of villain. Oh well. At least some good news has come out of this.

[Wzd]

I'd never herd of him till i read Joe's info on the News page

Here's the link:
Ra's Al Ghul (http://www.dccomics.com/secret_files/dc_character.html?sc_dc_itemCode=rasalghul)

Sounds like your everyday "i wanna rule the world" bad guy too me....hang'on! this guy should be in the next bond film!! LOL

[gyro_44]

So what you're looking for is a very uninteresting villain? I've always figured the first couple Batman flicks already covered that familiar territory.

So Joker and the Catwoman were uninteresting villains? Come on now...

I love the direction this movie is headed. Christopher Nolan is a God of style, and Christian Bale is an extremely talented actor. I CAN'T WAIT!

[Scarface98.9]

Originally posted by gyro_44
So Joker and the Catwoman were uninteresting villains? Come on now...


The Joker was alright, though possibly because the whole movie was devoted to him. Catwoman, can't comment, as I haven't seen the movie in quite awhile. But every villain after the 1st Batman was just a Joker-rip off, and considering the villains they've already used in the movies, I think they've done about all they can with the fucked up psycho role

[adamjohnson]

Ra's is definetely my favorite bat villian. Emotionally the two of them are on such equal grounds it mkes for a very good battle.

[perreli]

If anyone has ever seen the animated series than you know who he is. Personally I think he is a far better villian than the scarecrow. he matches the Bat on intelligence-wealth-and his daughter Thalia has got the BAt all off track.

[Duke Nukem]

Originally posted by perreli
If anyone has ever seen the animated series than you know who he is. Personally I think he is a far better villian than the scarecrow. he matches the Bat on intelligence-wealth-and his daughter Thalia has got the BAt all off track.

Wait a minute, is Ra's Al Ghul that villian that would steal people's inmortality or something, taking their youth, leaving him to live longer. If so, this could be a interesting "Batman" flick.

[perreli]

YEP- Thats the guy!

[jolanar]

For lack of a better emotional response....


Sweeeeeeeet.

[adamjohnson]

Well no, He has this 'lazarus pit' that RESTORES his immortality. Only in the new episodes of the show he was in his daughters body and then he wanted to swap with bats. Complex, yes

[Lazy Boy]

Sounds like great casting news.

To be honest, I never once connected with Batman on any level; no matter how cool an actor Michael Keaton was, he was completely lost, IMO, and completely overshadowed by Nicholson's performance.

But casting Christian Bale? Sweet...there's just something about him that oozes "dark" and "mysterious". At this point, anyone is better to fill the shoes of the Dark Knight rather than Val Kilmer or George Clooney (yikes!).

[Cipher Jo]

This totally made my shit*y day yesterday! It's the ultimate collaboration. Bale RULES! and now he's Batman. Oh yeah

[XCoRyX]

i dont dig ras al ghul too much at all...BUT,with him being announced,is [b]Bane[?b] going to make an appearence?he has helped RAG out more then a few times in the comics...

[soda]

pet peeve city - after the last "batman" movie, I wanted to send hate mail to Joe Schumacher's house, that idiot has obviously never read a comic book, his portrayal of Bane in the last movie was absolutely ridiculous, there is no accuracy in that portrayal at all. He butchered a great character.

Onto this movie, I like scarecrow a lot, but I would prefer Ra's al Ghul. He is an awesome baddy, as anyone who reads the comic books knows. He is, perhaps, the batman's most powerful villian because he can go toe to toe with Batman in money, muscle, and brains. Scarecrow would be interesting, but the guys I was really rooting for were Ra's al Ghul, Killer Croc, and/or Clayface. I think Bane should be salvaged and eventually used again as a character, but this time, he should be put in the hands of a director who knows what he's doing. Anyone who's read the "knightfall" series knows why Bane rocks!

BTW, as an aside, the Batman comic books are getting really good these days, and I personally would not mind at all seeing an adaptation of some of the best books in recent years made into movies. The "Hush" storyline that is running right now (#619 comes out on Sept 27th, only two more weeks to go) is absolutely excellent, #618 is everything a comic book should be and then some. If you want to know why people love comics and comic book films, pick up a copy of Batman #618, even if you don't like comic books, you owe it to yourself to check this out. Another story I wouldn't mind seeing adapted into a movie is "the long halloween."

[adamjohnson]

I actually think that Bane shoudl have his own movie. In the comics Bane was an extremely intelligent Russsian assassin who developed this strength serum. In th emovie he was just 'push button, bane smash'. Lame!

On an intellectual level Bane is superior. On a physical level hes vastly superior, overpoweringly superior in fact.

[Duke Nukem]

Bane was already used. Remember "Batman & Robin" (I know, noboby wants to remember B&R)? In the movie, Bane was used as a side-villian along with Poison Ivy. Bane was an experiment the scientist in the beginning, who's chemicals accidently turned his lab assistant into Poison Ivy. She later used him against Batman.

[Tagia_Romero]

Ra's Al Ghul is a great villain, and his daughter would also be very welcome in the movie. The relationship between Batman, Ra and Talia will be something quite extraordinary to see indeed.

[adamjohnson]

Originally posted by Duke Nukem
Bane was already used. Remember "Batman & Robin" (I know, noboby wants to remember B&R)? In the movie, Bane was used as a side-villian along with Poison Ivy. Bane was an experiment the scientist in the beginning, who's chemicals accidently turned his lab assistant into Poison Ivy. She later used him against Batman.

No, i know. I know all too well, bc i used to lvoe Bane.

I think itd be really easy to have the REAL bane come and have his own flick. He could just say that they stole his formula or something. Bane to begin with is a huge Russian bodybuilder, compund that with the serum hes unstoppable. In B&R he was some trechie wuss lookign guy and it was extroadinarily disappointing.

[soda]

I know that he was in B&R and his appearance in that movie was why B&R is the worst comics-to-movie flick of all time. He was portrayed so horribly, I swear, I wanted to strangle Joe Shumacher after I saw that film. Joe Shumacher has done for Bane what Adam West did for Batman: ruined a character for an entire generation. Anyone who wants to know why Batman comic book fans love Bane and why his appearance in B&R was pure Sh*t need only read the "knightfall" storyline(currently available in TPB form from DC), particularly check out "broken bat" and "who rules the night." "knightsend" is a good book too, and the cummulative effect of that story is awesome. In those books, Bane is a lackey to no one, what he is is a venon choked maniac who has only one mission in life: break the Batman. Not just physically break the Batman, mind you, but break him completely, psychologically, emotionally, mentally and physically. The way he sets out a detailed and complex plan to acheive that end is incredible. I've never seen Batman as outclassed as he was in "knightfall". Bane deserves his own movie, there are parts of the Batman that only Bane can bring to the fore, and he is an extremely formidable opponent so long as he's on the venom derivative. The character Bane deserves to be redone by a director who respects and understands the scope of the character.

[adamjohnson]

Ill do it when i start making them soon.

[g05]

i don't like christian bale, but if the story is good then i gues it's ok... maybe? i just hope they have the batmobile in it!

[Grim H.]

I'll bet Nolan could direct circles around Shumacher (sp?) :D :D :D

[lalex81]

I don´t like Christopher Lloyd for the Scarecrow, I would prefer Jeremy Irons or Steve Buscemi

Ra´s al Ghul is a great villain but I can´t picture any actor to play him... Al Pacino?

For his daughter Talia... Leonor Varela from Blade 2

I hope they change the way they are used to show the Alfred carachter, according to the comics he was an aspiring theater actor who went to WWII as a doctor.

And hopefully they change the way the show Batman fight, I mean he trained ofr years with the best martail arts masters of the world, he should move quicker and lighter and not like a regular guy in a latex suit throwing really slow punches.

[Scooter]

is robin gonna be in this? i hope not

[Duke Nukem]

No, Robin wouldn't be in it. It is set in Bruce Wayne's early years as Batman, so it's a prequel to the rest of the movies.