He battled the mob and The Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul as Batman in Batman Begins. He’s currently in Chicago playing Batman again in The Dark Knight, where he’ll tangle with Heath Ledger’s Joker for the fate of Gotham City.

But on Monday, Christian Bale fought his most desperate battle yet and walked away mostly unscathed.

Click right here to watch the video.

It’s a live, on-camera (via satellite) interview with a crazy lady from South Florida’s NBC 6. Her questions are oddly structured and her delivery is totally insane, but Bale handles it all like a pro.

If you can’t bear to watch the whole thing, use your mouse pointer to pull the time ticker down to the last 22 seconds, where she asks, “Are you READY TO BATTLE THE JOKER?!”

Without missing a beat, he says, “I’m doing so … almost as we speak.”

HA!

And then she squeals, “WELL MAY JUSTICE PREVAIL and may BATMAN be the BEST SUPERHERO again, Señor CHRISTIAN!”

Watch it twice. Once to watch her expressions and gestures and again to watch Bale’s reactions. It’s sweet, magic music.

The Dark Knight prevails on July 18, 2008!

[Christian Bale photo courtesy www.christian-bale.org — used with permission]