Christian Bale, Out of Gotham And 'Out of The Furnace' [Trailer + Pictures]

Christian Bale doesn’t stop for long; before he’d announced his decision to step down as Gotham City’s savior, the actor was working his way towards another type of hero. This time, he’s a working class hero without a fancy costume as Russell Baze – a steel worker forced to go in search for his ex-soldier brother who falls in with a criminal gang, headed by Curtis DeGoat (Woody Harrelson).

Bale is faced with finding his brother in Out of The Furnace

An incredible cast of Academy Awards winners and nominees sees Bale and Harrelson joined by Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Willem Dafoe, Zoe Saldana and Sam Shepard. It’s good to see Bale back in a more human role, despite his best efforts to attribute that aspect to Batman in the popular Dark Knight trilogy.

Check out the Out of The Furnace trailer:

The plot follows Baze’s quest to find his brother after he gets mixed up with DeGoat, who is terrifyingly portrayed by Harrelson. Perennial cop actor Whitaker aids him on his quest as the film reaches a thrilling denouement.

Out of The Furnace - official poster

“You often find superheroic people wearing capes and costumes in film today," said Cooper of the film to USA Today. "But working-class Americans are the real heroes. This is the story of this man who works in a blast furnace, but with themes of justice, retribution and courage."

Bale and Harrelson clash

Bale recently confirmed that he’s already donned the Batman costume for the last time, effectively ruling out an appearance in the Justice League film, which would see him team up with Henry Cavill as Superman and whoever plays Wonder Woman in the inevitable movie. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Bale do something different, and it’s easy to forget the pedigree of his acting while he’s acting in formulaic superhero films.

Saldana plays Bale's love interest in the film

The film’s been in development for a while now, and with a production team that includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Ridley Scott, it’s set to be one of the fall’s biggest released. Check out some more stills from the film below.

Some on-set action from Out of The Furnace - Casey Affleck fights

Forest Whitaker plays the local sherif

Director Scott Cooper leads Saldana and Bale

Bale takes matters into his own hands