Looks like fans are getting a crossover they never thought they’d see — the Dark Knight in a Marvel movie! Christian Bale, who starred in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, is in talks to return to the comic book genre in Taika Waititi‘s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’. His role is being kept secret, but with a star of this calibre, it’s sure to be a big one.
Waititi himself is a veteran of the DC movie franchises, having portrayed Thomas Kalmaku, Hal Jordan’s roommate in ‘Green Lantern’. Speaking of ‘Green Lantern’, Ryan Reynolds played the titular hero before playing a Marvel character in ‘Deadpool’, but that was under 20th Century Fox, prior to Disney’s purchase of the studio. Angela Bassett portrayed Amanda Waller in that film, and Queen Ramonda in ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’. And speaking of ‘Endgame’, the Big Bad of the MCU, Josh Brolin/Thanos, also portrayed the DC cowboy antihero in ‘Jonah Hex’. And just for the heck of it, he also portrayed another Marvel character, Cable in Fox’s ‘Deadpool 2’.
Another former Batman, Michael Keaton, who starred in 1989’s ‘Batman’ and 1992’s ‘Batman Returns’, joined the MCU as The Vulture in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’. And the most recent movie Batman, Ben Affleck previously portrayed Marvel’s ‘Daredevil’, but that was also by Fox and predated the MCU.
Other stars that have double-dipped in the DC and Marvel film universes include Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who played ‘Killer Croc’ in ‘Suicide Squad’ and Algrim in ‘Thor: The Dark World’; Tommy Lee Jones, who played Two-Face in ‘Batman Forever’, before co-starring in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ as Colonel Chester Phillips; ‘Shazam’ star Zachary Levi, who previously played Fandral in ‘Thor: The Dark World’; and Randall Park, who played CIA agent Jimmy Woo in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ and Dr. Stephen Shin in ‘Aquaman’.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ will star Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, the new King of the Asgardians, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, the new Thor, and Chris Hemsworth as the original Thor. Waititi is writing the script himself and has also stated that his character Korg will be back.
Bale is an Academy Award winner for his 2010 movie ‘The Fighter’. He was also nominated for ‘American Hustle’, ‘The Big Short’, and ‘Vice’, and he has a strong chance of being nominated again for last year’s ‘Ford Vs. Ferrari’.
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ will storm theaters on November 5, 2021.
Source: Collider
