The director declined the opportunity to create a fourth film in his 'Dark Knight' series

Christian Bale has explained why a fourth installment in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight series of Batman films was never made, despite an offer being on the table.

While promoting his new film Ford v Ferrari, Christian Bale spoke with the Toronto Sun about his and Nolan’s approach to Batman. The actor said the decision was effectively made after the third film was agreed.

“When they came and said, ‘You want to go make [a second film]?’ It was fantastic, but we still said, ‘This is it. We will not get another opportunity,'” Bale explained in the interview.

“Then they came and they said, ‘OK, let’s do the third one.’ Chris had always said to me that if we were fortunate to be able to make three we would stop. ‘Let’s walk away after that,’ he said.

“When they inevitably came to us and said, ‘How about a No. 4?’ I said, ‘No. We have to stick to Chris’ dream, which was always to, hopefully, do a trilogy. Let’s not stretch too far and become overindulgent and go for a fourth.'”

Meanwhile The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson in the titular role, is due out in US theatres June 15, 2021. Paul Dano has been confirmed to appear as The Riddler, with Zoe Kravitz cast as Catwoman and Jeffrey Wright playing Commissioner Jim Gordon.

Details on The Batman‘s plot are still scarce, though it has been revealed that the film will not be another origin movie delving into Bruce Wayne’s past. Pattinson expressed excitement about the “interesting direction”. No official release date for UK cinemas has been confirmed yet.