The Dark Knight: Postscript.

This news suggests Christopher Nolan's wisdom in apparently casting against type. It's amusing to see that the star system still works, to an extent, a movie premiere having priority over a criminal investigation. Maybe now everyone will go back for a second viewing of the movie to see if they can see how Bale cracked.

In the old days, on the other hand, this sort of news might have disqualified Bale from playing Batman again. At least we would probably hear an outcry against such a character, should the allegations prove true, playing a hero designed for the amusement of children. Of course, there might not have been such an outcry in those days, because the studios had more power to keep such a story as Bale's out of the news.

In any event, the odds are just as much against Bale playing the part a third time as they are against Nolan directing a third film. No one but supporting players and people holding character rights seems to stick around for more than two Batman films. Warner Bros. and DC Comics are always going to be tempted to treat a franchise like Batman like James Bond, neglecting the factor of personal genius in the success of Burton and Nolan's movies and wagering that any popular director or actor can do the work just as well. That's how you get Joel Schumacher and Val Kilmer and poor miscast George Clooney. Since the new Terminator movie is supposed to be one in a series, Bale might not be available for future Batman work even if he beats the present rap.

I usually don't indulge in this sort of gossip, but as I wrote before, Batman holds a special interest for me, and Bale's follies simply add to the cultural moment we're all experiencing. I'll be back to surveying paranoid presidential candidates soon enough.