With Christian Bale set to take on the role of Moses in next month’s Exodus: Gods and Kings, it’s inevitable that the press tour for the biblical epic is going to throw up plenty of questions about his thoughts on Warner Bros.’ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Empire Magazine (via CBM) has got in early, asking The Dark Knight Trilogy star how he felt when he heard that Ben Affleck would be succeeding him as the Caped Crusader.

“I’ve got to admit initially, even though I felt that it was the right time to stop, there was always a bit of me going, ‘Oh go on… Let’s do another.’ So when I heard there was someone else doing it, there was a moment where I just stopped and stared into nothing for half an hour. But I’m 40. The fact that I’m jealous of someone else playing Batman… I think I should have gotten over it by now. I haven’t spoken with Ben, but I emailed him offering bits of advice that I learned the hard way. I would imagine he is doing everything he can to avoid anything that I did.”

Exodus: Gods and Kings is set for release on December 12th in the States and on Boxing Day in the UK, while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will hit screens on March 25th 2016.