This may not come as a huge surprise but it does come straight from the horse's mouth: Christian Bale, talking to Empire last month, said that The Dark Knight Rises will be his last Batman movie...probably.

"All I know is the likelihood that this will be the last one," says the star. "Well, I wouldn't say definitely. If Chris goes, 'Hey, I've got another story I think could be interesting,' then yeah, great, I'd go do that. I always assumed it would be three, but I could be wrong. I don't know if there's something wrong with me, but I don't feel any pressure."

Nolan's on record as saying that the next film will be the last chapter in his Batman franchise, so we're going to assume that's it, but hey! It's nice that Bale isn't locking anything out. It's clear throughout our interview that he and Christopher Nolan continue to enjoy a great relationship, and also that Bale's looking forward to the new members of the gang.

"[Tom Hardy] seems like he's balls-out, doesn't he? Like he really goes for it.He looked like a guy that was happy to go to extremes, to really push it. Looks like he could go the distance..."

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For the full interview, which includes a whole lot on The Fighter - including an explanation why, despite featuring famed hotheads Bale and director David O.Russell, everything was calm on set, and which role it is that Bale really wants to play (it's not obvious!) - pick up the latest issue of Empire, which is on sale now. You know you want it.