Christian Bale, who played Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne in three different Batman movies, admitted to having some jealousy when Ben Affleck was announced to be taking over the role.

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Affleck's casting in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice caused Bale to be jealous, according to the actor himself in a new interview.

 "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," Bale said in a new interview with Empire Magazine (via ComicBookMovie).

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Apparently Bale has been emailing Affleck some advice on how to play the iconic superhero character.

"But I'm 40," he noted. "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."

Bale played the Bruce Wayne character as very self-serious, and his gravely Batman voice has certainly left a mark on pop culture through Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Now, Affleck is taking over the character for Batman v Superman, a movie that allows the character to go toe-to-toe with Superman (Henry Cavill) for the first time in a live action feature film.

It remains to be seen if Affleck will be a worthy partner or adversary to Cavill's Superman.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is scheduled for release in theaters on March 25, 2016.