Watanabe Takes On Batman
Last Samurai star to go up against Christian Bale's Batman.Ken Watanabe is to star in the new Batman movie, having been cast as the film's villain by director Christopher Nolan.
Watanabe is currently enjoying critical acclaim for his work on the Tom Cruise vehicle The Last Samurai, though the film itself has been underperforming at the box office and not pleasing the vast majority of critics, Watanabe has been praised for his portrayal of a Japanese Samurai who becomes close to Cruise's general.
The latest Batman movie will see Christian Bale take up the cape, while Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy all star in supporting roles.
The project is scheduled to start production next month in London.
Samurai was Watanabe's first English language role.
But the actor has been a star in Japan since the early 80's and is usually cast in heroic samurai roles, a far cry from the comic book villainy of the Batman world.
