LOS ANGELES, California –
“There’s an imposter in Gotham City. He claims to be me, he even wears the same suit as I do, but he is not me and he must be stopped.”
These were the grunted, barely audible words of former Batman star, Christian Bale, spoken while wandering around the set of much anticipated 2016 release, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, apparently looking for Ben Affleck.
Although disguised in the trademark cape and bat mask, cast and crew reportedly recognized Bale by the limp he affected for the last of The Dark Knight trilogy. Their suspicions were confirmed when at one point he called a child extra “God,” momentarily lapsing into the role of Moses, the character he played in Exodus: Gods and Kings.
Anne Hathaway, who recently returned with Bale from a cafe in Paris where they’d been living together, said that the transition has been hard for the celebrated actor.
“He’s not sure who he is right now,” Hathaway said. “Bruce never wanted to leave the vigilante life behind. It was the same after filming American Psycho, when he would roam the halls of Justin Theroux’s apartment block, naked and bloody with a chainsaw in his hands.”
When asked who she meant by Bruce, she responded, “Bruce? I said Christian, not Bruce. Who’s Bruce?”
According to director Zack Snyder, everyone is now used to Bale’s presence on set.
“He’s been hanging around for weeks now, struggling to identify the imposter. We’re all used to him. It’s always quite exciting when he holds one of the cast members up against the wall and demands information, sometimes tying them up with the rope he carries on his belt. What’s really weird though, is sometimes he throws on this horrible New York accent, and tried to get me to buy newspapers while singing and dancing. The man is a gas, but sometimes it’s just odd.”
According to production assistants on set, when Affleck was pointed out to Bale, the Dark Knight responded in his scratchy whisper, “You think you can fool me that easily? Only an idiot would believe that guy could pass for me.”