Despite the happy-go-lucky grin of his youth, Bale has a dark side—both on-screen and off. His serious demeanor has served him well as the latest incarnation of Bruce “Batman” Wayne, starting with Batman Begins (2005), which launched Christopher Nolan’s much-lauded reboot of the famous franchise and marked the advent of its new and grittier era. Bale again appeared as Batman in The Dark Knight in 2008 and returned for the last installment, The Dark Knight Rises. Nolan (and Batman) will next take on a Justice League movie, in which the caped crusader is rumored to be the focal point.