Caped Crusader flies into UK for premier

Blockbuster film Batman Begins will receive its European premiere in London tonight.

British actor Christian Bale has taken over the role of the Caped Crusader.

Katie Holmes plays his love interest – and all the publicity surrounding the film so far has centred on her real-life liaison with Tom Cruise.

The Hollywood couple have been dating for only a few weeks but Cruise has astonished observers with his over-the-top displays of emotion for the Dawson’s Creek actress.

The 42-year-old Top Gun star made an extraordinary appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, jumping up and down on the sofa and yelling: “I’m so in love!”

Holmes, 26, insists their romance is genuine and calls Cruise “the most amazing man in the world”.

Cruise is not expected to join Holmes on the red carpet tonight.

Instead she will attend the Leicester Square screening with Bale, who takes over the Batman role from Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney.

Bale, 31, found fame as a child star in Steven Spielberg’s prisoner-of-war drama Empire of the Sun and has since starred in American Psycho and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

Batman Begins is a prequel which explains how Bruce Wayne became the Caped Crusader.

Directed by Brit Christopher Nolan, it is darker and grittier than the previous films and critics have raved about it.

Wayne is tortured by grief after witnessing the murder of his parents as a child.

As a young man he travels to the Far East where he trains with a mysterious ninja cult.

Returning home to Gotham City, he creates his alter ego and embarks on a crusade against corruption.

Michael Caine co-stars as Wayne’s faithful butler Albert.

Holmes plays Wayne’s childhood friend Rachel Dawes who grows up to be Gotham City’s assistant district attorney.

The cast also includes Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman.

The film opens nationwide on June 16.