Christian Bale wants to extend his role as Batman to a trilogy - providing director Christopher Nolan stays on board.
The British star first appeared as the Caped Crusader in 2005's Batman Begins and reprises the role in the summer release of The Dark Knight.
He told Entertainment Weekly that Batman's character ark demands another instalment
"Knowing the Dark Knight story, I would like very much to complete a trilogy," said Bale. "It leaves you anticipating something that really can get very, very interesting for a third. Now, the question would be: Is Chris going to be doing it? Because to me I find it tricky to imagine working on it without it being a collaboration with Chris."
Bale also paid tribute to the late Heath Ledger, who plays opposite him as The Joker in The Dark Knight.
He said: "What was so great to see with Heath is just how seriously he took it. And we don't mean in any way to sound sort of pretentious with that, but just in the fact that if we don't take it seriously, then how can any audience ever take it seriously? And he did one hell of a job."