Christian Bale reveals why 'people laughed' at him before the Batman trilogy

Christian Bale shall always be associated with the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's 'Dark Knight' trilogy, but it is now revealed that not everyone had earlier believed in the duo's portrayal of the character.

Starting with 'Batman Begins' and most notably in 'The Dark Knight,' Bale and Nolan grounded the character in a level of realism the comic book movie genre had never seen. Bale's serious approach was the opposite of the campier take on Batman as seen in Joel Schumacher's 'Batman Forever' and 'Batman & Robin,' as per Variety.

"I would [tell people] we're going to sort of do Batman, but take him seriously. I had tons of people laugh at me and just say, 'Well, that's just not going to work at all. So it's wonderful to be a part of a trilogy that proved those people wrong. I'm not certain if it kick-started [the MCU], but it certainly helped along the way," Bale told The Washington Post.

Bale is next returning to the genre as the villainous 'Gorr the God Butcher' in 'Thor: Love and Thunder.'

"I don't have any goodbye and thank you unless other people say to me 'goodbye and thank you, please never revisit this again' then I'll take their word for it. But otherwise, a good story is a good story. A good film is a good film. And a good director is a good director. And I'm open to any of those ideas," Bale added.

Bale recently made headlines by telling ScreenRant that he's not entirely opposed to revisiting Batman or Bruce Wayne in another 'Dark Knight' film. However, the Oscar winner has one condition; Nolan must be the director of the movie.

Bale said, "I had a pact with Chris Nolan. We said, 'Hey, look, let's make three films, if we're lucky enough to get to do that. And then let's walk away. Let's not linger too long.' In my mind, it would be something if Chris Nolan ever said to himself, 'You know what, I've got another story to tell.' And if he wished to tell that story with me, I'd be in."

'Thor: Love and Thunder' is on the big screen from Friday, 7 July.