Exploring the Unfulfilled Crossover: Christian Bale's Batman in the DCEU
Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder once considered bringing Christian Bale's Batman from The Dark Knight trilogy into the DCEU for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, they abandoned the idea due to the ending of The Dark Knight Rises. In a recent interview, Snyder discussed the concept and how it could have worked if Bale's Batman had continued his crime-fighting career instead of retiring.
During an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Snyder mentioned his conversation with Nolan about connecting The Dark Knight Trilogy with the DCEU. They had discussed the possibility of having Christian Bale reprise his role as Batman in Batman v. Superman before ultimately deciding against it. Snyder believed that if Bale's Batman had remained active in Gotham at the end of The Dark Knight Rises, the universes could have merged.
Snyder speculated that if Nolan had seen potential in the idea, they might have pursued it differently. However, he clarified that he and Nolan never had a detailed discussion about it. In a previous podcast appearance, Snyder pointed out that the ending of The Dark Knight Rises, where John Blake takes over as Batman, was a significant factor in why the crossover didn't happen.
The filmmaker acknowledged that fans wanted to see Bruce Wayne's Batman face off against Superman, not John Blake's version. Despite the complications it would have brought, Snyder mentioned that it could have been interesting to see Blake's Batman confront Superman. The idea of merging the two Batman universes was intriguing but ultimately didn't come to fruition.