Christian Bale, the star of the upcoming "Batman Begins" movie, considers the Caped Crusader hes portraying to be part Jesus Christ, part "American Psycho," according to Sci-Fi Wire.

In an interview at the recent WonderCon in San Francisco, Bale said that hes uniquely qualified to combine those elements since these are two roles hes previously portrayed: Jesus Christ and the "American Psycho."

"He's very much an American psycho of sorts and, yeah, also certainly has Christ-like symptoms," Bale said. "You see it in the battle between his spirit and flesh and, with Bruce Wayne, the battle between the philanthropy his father taught him and was a great example to him for and the need for vengeance, which is incredibly strong."

Bale played Jesus in the 1999 telefilm, "Mary, Mother of Jesus" and gained fame as the title character in 2000's theatrical film "American Psycho.

Bale said that he views Batman as conflicted.

"His heart is telling him, frankly, that he wants to kill," he said, "But he cannot do it. He's been taught differently from childhood, and he knows that it is wrong. But, still, it's an overwhelming urge that he's had to pull back, rein in, all the time."

Bale said that he feels that this version of the Batman story, the fifth in Warner Bros.' recent franchise, is particularly relevant to these unsettled times.

"I don't want to give away too much, but what Cillian Murphy is doing as the Scarecrow, and which Ken Watanabe is putting into Ra's Al Ghul is very similar to the anthrax scare that people went through," he said. "It's very similar to the possibility of chemical, biological warfare, etc., going on.

"Theres also the notion of the mentor that Bruce Wayne chooses to go and train with being a man with a triple-barreled name who lives in caves kind of on the run. You can't help but take a look and say, 'Hmm. There's a lot of relevance to it.'"

"Batman Begins" opens in theaters June 17.