He's appearing once again as an action figure for the hotly anticipated "Batman Begins" sequel "The Dark Knight" -- but to star Christian Bale, being immortalized in plastic as one of the world's most iconic superheroes is a notion that's quite humbling.
In fact, even while some of the figures distinctly bear his likeness, Bale doesn't look at them as miniature clones of himself. Among Mattel's Batman toys is a "Movie Masters" line of action figures which includes versions of Batman with his mask on and off (as Bale's big-screen alter-ego, Bruce Wayne).
"I really don't ever look at them as me, I truly don't," Bale said in an @ The Movies interview. "I see kids playing around with the things and say, 'Oh that's cool -- that's Batman.' But then I go, 'It's kind of me, I guess, but it just doesn't feel that way.'"
What it ultimately comes down to, Bale said, is that the character is so much bigger than him.
"I'm just donning the gear for the icon for a brief time, and then he's gone," said the acclaimed actor. "This particular guise is my creation, but obviously the entire iconic character is not. He lives on regardless of me. I'm the temporary holder of the flame for it."
Having toys created based on his own movie creation is somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy for "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" director and co-writer Christopher Nolan, whose first efforts behind the camera came as a boy in the 1970s, creating action figure movies starring "Star Wars" characters.
Now a father of four with his filmmaker wife Emma Thomas (who produced "The Dark Knight" and "Batman Begins"), Nolan has an obvious excuse to roll out the Batman at his leisure. Yet, Nolan does admit that he's a kid at heart when it comes to collecting movie toys -- especially the redesigned Batmobile (aka The Tumbler) that debuted in "Batman Begins" and returns for "The Dark Knight."
"I'm particularly a fan of the Batmobile that they've done because my designer Nathan Crowley and myself really designed it from scratch," Nolan said in an @ The Movies interview. "So it's pretty fun to actually fun a couple years after that to have this toy of it. They're doing one of the Batpod (Batman's new, high-tech motorcycle) as well, so those kinds of things are fun."
Nolan says three of his children are boys, who "absolutely love" the Batman toys. So can we expect another action figure filmmaker waiting in the wings, "Dark Knight" toys in hand, saying "You know, Dad, I probably would have directed the scene
this way?"
"Not yet," Nolan said, laughing, but he suspects it's coming.
Video: Clip: 'Break In'
