First he played Batman in the "Dark Knight" trilogy, and now Christian Bale has become a real-life superhero, as he came to Aurora, Colo., Tuesday to visit victims of the shooting that shocked the nation when a gunman burst into a movie theater showing Bale's latest early Friday morning and killed 12 moviegoers and wounded another 58.

A local TV reporter reported early Tuesday evening that Bale was seen walking into the hospital where many of the Aurora theater shooting victims are still being treated for wounds sustained during the massacre.

The killings came during an opening-day showing of Bale's new mega-hit film, "The Dark Knight Rises," and as such Christian Bale appears to have been moved to act -- not theatrically, but as a good-will ambassador.

His visit is likely to bring a smile and a little bit of good cheer to a town that has been rocked to its core by the vicious attack, which has tainted the long-awaited release of "The Dark Knight Rises," widely expected to be one of the highest-grossing pictures in movie history.

"Mr. Bale is there as himself, not representing Warner Brothers," an assistant for Susan Fleishman, executive vice president for Warner Brothers corporate communications, told the Denver Post.

Justin Joseph, a television news reporter for Denver's KDVR/KWGN, tweeted Tuesday afternoon that Bale was seen entering the Aurora hospital where some shooting victims are still recuperating. It appears that the visit by Christian Bale was unannounced.

"I'm hearing reports Christian Bale is in town visiting victims. Very cool. #theatershooting," Joseph tweeted at 4 p.m. (all times given in this article are Eastern), adding an hour later: "Report from tipster is that Bale arrived at the hospital an hour ago via ambulance. Working to confirm."

The confirmation came from another TV reporter, Natalie Tysdal, also of KDVR/KWGN, who tweeted around 5 p.m., "WB confirms it. actor Christian Bale is in #aurora visiting victims. On his own not representing WB," adding shortly thereafter, "Christian Bale at hospital in CO getting ready to meet with victims and families after spending time with first responders." 

Tysdal continued tweeting details, adding at about 5:30, "batman actor Christian Bale now meetin with patients. email me if you have more pictures," and at about 5:50 adding, "source at hops. says Christian Bale was friendly, police and very positive. Said thank you to everyone in the ER."

Photographs of Christian Bale in Aurora started to emerge on Twitter as the news spread, and we have attached some of them to this article (see above.) One of the first pictures shows him visiting shooting victim Corey Rotman at his bedside in a hospital in Aurora, Colorado.

To contact the editor, e-mail: