Bale: I'll miss Batman costume

Christian Bale has revealed that he will miss wearing the Batman outfit once he's done with The Dark Knight Rises.

The English actor, who reprises his role as the Caped Crusader for the third and final film in Christopher Nolan's Batman series, admitted he has grown fond of the close-fitting black costume.

"For all the discomfort and the heat and the sweat and the headaches and everything from it, when you sit back and watch the movie at the end of the day, you go: 'Well, that's f****** cool'. I will miss that, I liked the good bit of rubber," he quipped to Collider.

Christian also revealed how Christopher wanted the challenge of making his final swan song.

"My understanding was, Chris could have chosen not to do it, but he had always talked about this as being a trilogy and he liked the challenge that an awful lot of movies fail on the third one," he continued.

"There are some exceptions but most of the time that's the tricky one to pull off. And I think he really likes the challenge of that."

The 38-year-old has no qualms about playing Batman for the final time in The Dark Knight Rises, alongside Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway and Marion Cotillard.

"It is a fascinating character. In honesty, there are probably a lot of stories that can be told with Batman," he said.

"But I feel, you have to leave when the going is good and this is when Chris wants to wrap it up. And it's the right time."