Frankenstein rises! Christian Bale is once again taking on an iconic role from the pop culture landscape. On Thursday, the first images of the 50-year-old Oscar winner playing Frankenstein in the Maggie Gyllenhaal -directed film, The Bride , were released. Gyllenhaal famously played Rachel, the love interest of Bale's Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) in 2008's The Dark Knight . In the black-and-white image of Bale, he is seen with the signature staples in his head and across his chest, which also has a tattoo in script that reads, "Hope." Bale's nose also appears to be twisted and warped as the result of him playing a creature pieced together from different dead bodies and reanimated. In the first-look images, we also see a color image of
Irish Singer and
Actress Jessie Buckley, who plays the titular bride. She has platinum blonde hair with tight waves in a short 'do, black lipstick, and slashes of something black moving from her mouth up the side of her cheek that resembles ink. The dark romance is set in 1930s
Chicago and according to Variety the film follows Buckley's bride -- a murdered young woman [who] is revived. "Her new life surprises her creators as she lusts for romance and ignites a radical social movement," Variety reports. The film also stars Gyllenhaal's husband, Peter Sarsgaard, as well as Annette Bening, Penélope Cruz and Julianne Hough. The film marks Gyllenhaal's sophomore directorial effort, her first being 2021's The Lost Daughter, which earned three Oscar nominations and also starred Buckley in a lead role. Sarsgaard also appeared in that film, and in 2021, Gyllenhaal spoke with ET about directing her husband. "That was probably the most natural part about it," she said of working with Sarsgaard. "I have so much respect for him. I think he's so talented." The Bride is set to be released in theaters Oct. 2, 2025. RELATED CONTENT: Video Awards News Movies