While Christian Bale’s version of Batman is one of the most iconic cinematic iterations of the DC Comics character, it wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for a cult classic from 2000. There are a lot of movie versions of Batman, and another on the way thanks to the upcoming DC movie The Brave and the Bold. While that outing will recast Batman once again, the character has already been portrayed on the big screen by Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Since director Christopher Nolan’s iconic Dark Knight trilogy helped redefine the comic book movie landscape in the 2000s, it should come as no surprise that Bale’s Batman is still considered one of the most memorable incarnations of the role. However, his performance may never have happened if it weren’t for 2000’s controversial cult classic American Psycho. Based on the book of the same name by author Bret Easton Ellis, director Mary Harron’s movie was a caustic satire of Wall Street’s amorality that doubled as a creepy, albeit darkly funny, slice of psychological horror.
American Psycho Made Christian Bale An A-list Leading Man
American Psycho starred Bale as Patrick Bateman, an investment banker who moonlights as a vicious serial killer. Throughout Harron’s movie, Bateman balances his day job of trading stocks with a string of increasingly violent crimes that grow more ludicrously outlandish with each passing night. With a stellar supporting cast that includes Reese Witherspoon, Justin Theroux, Jared Leto, and Willem Dafoe, American Psycho is a sharp, intelligent satire of Wall Street’s culture of toxic masculinity. A huge critical success, American Psycho also earned $34 million on a budget of only $7 million.
However, the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation’s biggest contributions to the history of cinema took a few years to become more obvious. Bale beat a lot of iconic leading men to the role of Bateman, including Leonardo DiCaprio, and American Psycho single-handedly established him as an A-list leading man after over a decade of supporting roles. Earlier flops like Newsies and Velvet Goldmine left Bale looking like an uncertain box office prospect, but American Psycho turned things around for the actor despite subsequent under-performers like Reign of Fire.
American Psycho Had A Surprising Influence On Bale’s Batman
More so than any other single title, American Psycho was the movie that truly established Bale as a leading man in the early 2000s, without which viewers would never have gotten to see him as Batman. Of course, that is not the only way that American Psycho influenced Bale’s take on Batman. On the contrary, the star brought a lot of Patrick Bateman to the role, and this made sense considering the similarities between the two characters. While Bateman might be a monster, he is still a phenomenally wealthy and privileged protagonist who hides a secret double life.
Bale took the smug, smarmy charm that he infused Bateman with and transferred it to his version of Bruce Wayne, although his take on the conflicted millionaire was obviously far more sympathetic. Throughout Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Bale’s masked Batman is a ferocious screen presence while his take on Bruce Wayne is a slick charmer, further proving that the star’s take on Batman was influenced by his time playing American Psycho’s two-faced main character years earlier.
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Netflix -
Image courtesy of Netflix -
Image Courtesy of Crunchyroll
