We all know that The Dark Knight Rises is most likely going to be the last Batman movie we see Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale work on together. But it doesn't mean we can't have a little hope swelling our geekified hearts. In a recent interview with Empire, Bale said he's be open to making another Batman movie if Nolan brought him a script and told him he had another story to tell.

My understanding is that this is the last one. I think it's appropriate, I think it's going out at the right time. But...if Chris came to me with a script and said, 'You know what? There is another story' then I would love the challenge of making a fourth one work

This helps that hope we have grow a little bit bigger, but it's still a long shot from ever happening. In the same interview, Nolan talks about why he took on the challenge of making Batman in the first place, and reveals it's always been a three-part story.

What drew me to Batman in the first place was Bruce Wayne's story, and that he's a real character whose story begins in childhood. He's not a fully formed character like James Bond, so what we're doing is following the journey of this guy from a child who goes through this horrible experience of becoming this extraordinary character. That, for me, became a three-part story. And obviously the third part becomes the ending of the guy's story.

Co-writer Jonathan Nolan adds one more thing...

It's the right way to end it - to blow the whole thing up!

So there you have it. We can have the hope that maybe... just maybe, another movie might happen, but hope is as far is it will go. Warner Bros. already plans to reboot the franchise, it's just so hard to imagine it being better or even just as good as what Nolan has already created. So let's just enjoy the hell out of this final Batman movie, because unless Nolan makes another one, Dark Knight Rises might just end up being the most epic Batman film even made.