Just two years after Christian Bale wowed audiences as Batman for the last time on film, Ben Affleck is already gearing up to play the Caped Crusader in the upcoming "Man of Steel" sequel entitled "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

Now Bale is admitting that it's hard to see another actor taking on the iconic superhero role so soon. 

"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'," Bale told Empire Magazine in a recent interview. "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 starred in director Christopher Nolan's epic Batman trilogy, which included "Batman Begins," "The Dark Knight," and "The Dark Knight Rises."

Although handing over his the keys to the Batmobile was tough for Bale, he explained that he doesn't want to be resentful of Affleck for taking the role.

"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," said Bale. "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."

Affleck is scheduled to play an aging version of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, in at least three upcoming films, including "Batman v Superman" and two "Justice League" movies.

He spoke to Entertainment Weekly earlier this year about jumping into the legendary role and dealing with high expectations from filmgoers who will be judging him based on the performances of other actors who have played the Dark Knight, as well as his previous experience starring as a masked superhero in the critical flop "Daredevil."  

"Without getting into the vagaries of the internet and who's sort of out there being vocal about it, at the end of the day, when you get into the arena of those kinds of movies, these superhero movies, particularly ones that are working with characters that everyone's known for so long, everybody's got these strongly held opinions and preconceived ideas about what it should be," said Affleck. "I totally understand and recognize that. At the same time, I don't think projections about something that hasn't happened yet are all that meaningful. I think at the end of the day, it's like any other movie or project: You go out and make it great, people will say it's great. If you go out and miss, you'll hear about it. The stuff beforehand is kind of just the noise that happens."