It looks like Christian Bale, the master of method acting, has prepared to play Moses in the Exodus blockbuster by logging hours at the gym.

The Batman actor has made his name by slimming down and piling on the pounds to fit his various roles.

In 2003, Bale lost 4.5stone in his most drastic transformation when he played insomniac Trevor Reznik in The Machinist.

More recently, he sat around eating fast food when he put on almost three stone in preparation for the role of lead con-man Irving Rosenfeld in the 2013 Oscar-nominated American Hustle.

Bale has started a trend among male actors transforming their bodies for every role, which seems to be one way to be taken seriously in the movie industry. It certainly hasn't done any harm to Bale's career.

And now he's back on usual Hollywood form and in fighting shape to swing swords as Moses in the Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner) epic depicting the Israelites' journey out of slavery, the first images from the film showed this week.

But would the patriarch really have been quite so ripped?

Ok, Moses was probably quite a tough guy. He did kill a man. And being a sheep farmer in the desert is no easy job. But we can probably say with some confidence that he didn't have personal trainer.

Bale co-stars alongside Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad fame, as Joshua. Joel Edgerton takes on the role of Pharaoh Ramses and Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro and Ben Kingsley complete the all-star cast.

Exodus will be in cinemas in December.