Not even Christian Bale envisaged just how popular his turn as Batman would be; the Dark Knight Trilogy was easily the best comic book film series of all time, and paved the way for loads of subsequent geek out pictures to hit screens.

Christian BaleChristian Bale and Sibi Blazic The European Premiere of 'The Dark Knight Rises'

For Bale, though, that’s enough: he’s hanging up his batclaw, popping the keys to the batmobile on the side table and… well, he might hang out in the batcave – it’s a cool place to relax and look at some intricate cave work.

"We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three. That's enough. Let's not get greedy," he told Entertainment Weekly. "Chris always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying 'We're about to make the third.' We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well."

Christian BaleNo more Batman for Bale

This spells bad news for people who wanted to see Bale appear in a Justice League movie, which would see Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman all on the same screen. Man of Steel 2 will hopefully see the introduction of Wonder Woman, with a film of her own following. It’s about time we had a female super hero, and even though we’re saying goodbye to Bale as Batman, these are exciting times for fans of superhero films.