The Dark Knight Rises may well be the most highly-anticipated film in years – to the point that its IMAX midnight showings are already selling out in some cities. Hence, anything even remotely resembling TDKR news is automatically newsworthy.

Recently, Christian Bale talked to Style Magazine about his role as Batman in Christopher Nolan’s beloved Batman trilogy, as well as his relationship with the dearly departed Heath Ledger, who played the Joker in The Dark Knight (and posthumously won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for it).

Check out the more interesting (albeit brief) sections below, via Comic Book Movie, and read the full interview in Style Magazine.

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne in Dark Knight

On who Batman is as a character, Christian Bale said:

"For me, he’s an anarchist and a free spirit. He knows that there are parallels between him and his enemies because life is never stable - you always have to fight for it. Keeping in mind that it may never be boring and that nobody is obliging you to behave like a superhero and to always have your muscles flexed and bulging."

On Heath Ledger, and what Christian Bale seeks in male friendship:

"An exchange, never rivalry, and I like people who have obsessions, passions, people who do not always want to be in the limelight. Heath really was a lovely person, he loved his daughter dearly and he spent his life seeking answers. He was nothing to do with the commotion that broke out after his death. Nobody ever really is a cartoon superhero, even though superheroes are all the rage today."

It has to be incredibly grating being continually asked about your dead friend and co-star, but it's nonetheless interesting to hear what Bale has to say about Ledger -- even if it's as minuscule as the above.

Heath Ledger as Joker in Dark Knight

Whereas the Marvel movies have, on occasion, been immensely entertaining cinematic works, they’ve so far played an entirely different game than that of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight and (from what we’ve seen) The Dark Knight Rises.

Which isn’t to say that Dark Knight was a cinematic masterpiece; rather, it was a very serious, very good portrayal of a “superhero” operating outside of the “superhero genre” that Marvel typically works with. Once Nolan moves onto other projects, cinema will be sorely lacking in terms of serious, semi-realistic drama/action films that just happen to involve superheroes, lest someone else take up the reins.

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The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters July 20th, 2012.

Source: Style Magazine [via Comic Book Movie]

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