Christopher Nolan Finally Speaks! Confirms Superman Reboot and Batman 3 Rumors

“And here, we…go!” It’s official. It’s true. And man is it a great day to bee a comic-book movie fan. About a month ago we posted news that not only was Warner Bros. getting their crap together for a much needed Superman reboot, but that Batman savior Christopher Nolan was going to have an integral part in its development. At that time, it was not confirmed, it was just industry chatter. It is now a fact. And we know this, because the man of the hour has said so himself.

Geoff Boucher of the L.A. Times’ Hero Complex blog visited Mr. Nolan and his producing partner/wife Emma Thomas at his super secret editing suite attached to his Hollywood home, where he’s currently putting the finishing touches on Inception, opening worldwide July 16. While there, he was finally able to get Nolan to talk about those spiraling internet rumors regarding the “Will he/won’t he?” speculation of his involvement in a Superman reboot and the inevitable sequel to The Dark Knight; currently referred to by us movie bloggers as Batman 3.

The Man of Steel Begins…Again

Speaking the first time about Superman, Nolan shares where he’s at with making Supes fly:

It’s very exciting; we have a fantastic story. And we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.

This quote isn’t going to make Marvel execs jump out their windows due to panic and fear (maybe it will), but the fact that he is actually stating that they have an idea and is reiterating his team’s confidence in their comic-book adaptation abilities, is indeed very exciting.

Nolan then went on to elaborate on the conception of Team Nolan’s idea for this epic project in the DC movie universe. The idea came from Nolan’s friend and collaborative partner David S. Goyer (co-writer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, creator of ABC’s Flash Forward). As they were brainstorming ideas for Batman 3, Goyer paused for a minute and asked Nolan his thoughts on an idea he had for Superman:

He basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman. I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.

So as of now, Goyer is currently in the beginning stages of writing the script for Superman, which will be based on the story he and Nolan come up with together. Nolan will also undoubtedly be consulted constantly as Goyer’s screenplay develops.

Another huge thing that Nolan revealed regarding his visions for the respective DC movies is that they will be completely separate; they being Superman and Batman. Nolan’s entire ambitious and unique vision for his take on Batman was to ground him in complete reality, where movie-goers could actually imagine a rich billionaire using his money to buy gadgets and fight crime. This approach, unfortunately for many, should spell a “No go” for the much talked about possibility of a Batman/Superman cross-over film:

Each serves to the internal logic of the story. They have nothing to do with each other.

Now, as I’ve made the respective rounds around the blogosphere today, a lot of fanboys and comic-book fans are spitting mad with such anecdotes as, “how can he say Superman and Batman have nothing to do with each other? There’s Justice League, and Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent often interact within the comic realm.” Well, I think it’s quite easy to infer from Nolan’s statement that he simply means, in his film adaptations of each character, they will have nothing to do with each other, as that is the superhero universe that has already been constructed with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. So for now, it seems like a Justice League movie would be out of the question. FOR NOW.

The End of Nolan’s Batman Saga

As much as Warner Bros. wants to get a Superman reboot up and running, their first priority is getting going on Batman 3. I mean, all Nolan did was give WB over $1.3 billion, 10 Oscar nominations and and eternity of credibility. And I also think it’s safe to say that fans are willing to sacrifice their children for another Nolan Batman film, not sure the same can be said for a Superman reboot. With that said, Nolan confirmed that his brother Jonah Nolan (co-writer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) is currently hard at work on the script for Batman 3. He also spoke a little on where he is with the project and where envisions (kind of) the rewards of being able to end the Batman tale he started over six years ago:

Without getting into specifics, the key thing that makes the third film a great possibility for us is that we want to finish our story. And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story. We have a great ensemble, that’s one of the attractions of doing another film, since we’ve been having a great time for years.

I’m very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters. My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these things don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we’re telling. And it harkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That’s what we do.

Geoff did try and probe Nolan on possible Batman 3 villains, to which Nolan of course did not even dare go into. He did say flat out that Mr. Freeze is “out of the question. ” Thank god! “Chiiiilllllll!!! Chiilllll!!!”

So there you have it Movie Mashers. Batman 3 IS being written as you read and Christopher Nolan is FOR SURE going to be involved, although he did not confirm that he is going to direct it. However, that means absolutely nothing as Nolan has proven to be a filmmaker who shows great respect for the films he makes and never publicly commits to DIRECT a future project until the one he’s currently working on is blowing the minds of audiences in theaters. Inception doesn’t come out for another four months. Look for an official confirmation from his own words around that time.

What Do You Think? Discuss.