You might still be scratching your head over Ben Affleck being chosen as the next Batman, but there's a reason the role has become so sacrosanct to Batfans and normies alike these days. That reason, of course, is Christian Bale.

Bale's portrayal of the Caped Crusader in Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight" trilogy was a major hi-yah to the teeth of anyone who doubted him and set the benchmark really freakin' high for the next guy (yeah so, um, good luck with that Mr. Batfleck).

Obviously, heinsight is 20/20, so almost no one currently wonders why the Balester was tapped for the role, but once upon a time there probably were some questions about why this guy — the same one who got soooo skinny for "The Machinist" only to watch it do squat at the box office and pretty much just went around stabbing everybody in "American Psycho" — was the guy.

Well, a sample of the special features goodies from Warner Bros.' "The Dark Knight Trilogy: Ultimate Collector's Edition" Blu-ray set (hitting shelves tomorrow) has now dropped, and it features nothing short of a behind-the-scenes glimpse at Bale's actual audition process for "Batman Begins." Yes.

As it turns out, it was Christian Bale who thought to give his superhero alter ego a smokier voice than his rich boy counterpart Bruce Wayne, which was huge. It could've easily been silly, and maybe it would've been if not for the fact that he was also able to actually own the Batsuit during his screen test.

"The testing process on this kind of performance ... it's not about acting ability or chemistry or any of those things," Nolan explains in the vid. "It's about being able to project this extraordinary iconography really from the inside, it's visual iconography. Christian somehow he figured this out before the screen test, that you cannot give a normal performance. You could not give an ordinary performance. You had to project massive energy through this costume in order to not question the costume."

Fun fact: While Katie Holmes would eventually nab the role of flavor of the week Rachel Dawes for "Begins," the screen test was originally done by Lois Lane-to-be and Bale's future "The Fighter" co-star Amy Adams as a favor the casting director.

Also Check Out: Ben Affleck Defends Batman Casting: 'I Handle S**t'