Christian Bale spent "a good 20 minutes" alone in his Batman costume after The Dark Knight Rises wrapped as he prepared to mark the end of an era.

The superstar cast wrapped the final instalment of moviemaker Christopher Nolan's blockbuster trilogy in December (11), and Christian Bale reveals he quickly left the set to be by himself for a moment of reflection in his Caped Crusader cowl.

He tells Britain's Daily Mirror, "It was a fairly low-key affair. I don't like big goodbyes so I said goodbye to everybody fairly quickly and then sat in the outfit and the cowl for a good 20 minutes.

"I was just reflecting (on) what it had meant to me through the years."

Christian Bale credits the big-budget franchise with giving him the freedom to pick and choose his roles, but admits he now wants to get involved in smaller projects.

He adds, "Before Batman I would have these wonderful creative conversations with directors and writers and they'd always say, 'I'd love you to make my movie.' And then financiers would get involved and they'd say, 'Don't even mention Christian Bale to me. It's not going to happen.' Well, that's changed and now I get to make movies that nobody would have cast me in previously... I want to make some small movies now. I'm looking at very different kinds of movies."