People who are dying for Christopher Nolan to come back for another Batman movie need not fret – this isn’t news that he isn’t coming back. But rather Batman himself, Christian Bale, saying that he has to do another one even if Nolan doesn’t come back (which, let’s not forget, is entirely a possibility).

In an interview with Total Film recently, Bale gave his latest thoughts on the next Batman movie, commenting on such things as his being tied to the franchise (for now, anyway), how Nolan might not come back and that the next movie should be just as good as the last one.

Here’s what Bale had to say:

With DC Comics about to have another hit on their hands when Watchmen premieres in theaters on March 6th, a lot of movie blogs/news sites have been pondering where DC/Warner Bros. should go from here.

With all the hype surrounding Watchmen, and all the internet chatter about  DC Comics’ uncertain cinematic future, I found myself wondering: Why hasn’t DC had as much success at the box office as rival company Marvel?

In an attempt to answer that very question I came up with this comprehensive guide to how DC Comics SHOULD be making movies.

In other breaking news, water is apparently wet, the sky is blue and ice cream is in fact delicious!

Talking to the MTV Movies Blog, David Goyer (who wrote Batman Begins and The Dark Knight along with director Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathon) reveals that none of the God-only-knows-how-many rumors regarding Batman 3 are true.

That’s right, ladies and germs. Nolan has not yet signed on to helm the third Batman installment (the last in a proposed trilogy), pre-production won’t start early in 2009 and no actor(s) have been cast to play Bat’s latest advasary. As Goyer explains:

Heath McKnight: Obsessive Iron Man fan

Before I start my little op-ed about Iron Man and The Dark Knight, I want you all to know that Iron Man is indeed my favorite character. I had him tattooed on my right forearm almost five years ago, and Entertainment Weekly even featured me as their “Obsessive Fan of the Week” last year! I write for Advanced Iron (the #1 Iron Man fan site on the planet), and my love for the character stretches back over 20 years.

As we all know, Hollywood is the epicenter of not only fads, but also ripping off copying what works from other studios. We’ve all seen this before many times. One studio puts out a successful movie in some genre and within 6-9 months we see a bunch of movies coming out trying to capitalize on the popularity of the first one.

Wow, what a crazy combination of fans. Take Joss Whedon and his Joss-Verse fan craze and combine that with the Batman fan following and I think we would have seen quite an explosion across both worlds.

Before Christopher Nolan got the nod to reboot the Batman mythos, Joss Whedon had pitched his own idea for the next film for the Caped Crusader to Warner Bros!

(My dear readers, you have permission to treat this rumor as hostile.)

Not two days after wild rumors started circulating that Angelina Jolie was looking to play Catwoman in Christopher Nolan’s third chapter of the Batman Begins series, comes an even wilder rumor from out of the UK that Warner Bros. execs have begun eying top-notch actors Johny Depp and Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman for the roles of The Riddler and The Penguin in the next Bat-flick

Earlier this morning, I was talking about how fans online were nerdgasming over the release of The Incredible Hulk last week.

In case you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, “nerdgasming” is being insanely pumped about the release of something (i.e. usually a movie but it also applies to video games, television shows, etc.) to the point of “knowing” it’s going to be a blockbuster-level smash because of your excitement level and the fact that the Internet is talking about it non-stop.

And a lot of times, it doesn’t happen. Sure, sometimes the item in question does well – but nowhere near our own expectations and we find ourselves asking: “What happened?” That certainly applied this past weekend when the Hulk reboot pulled in a solid $55 million despite claims by many that it would churn out anywhere between $60 to $100 million(!) That was never. Gonna. Happen, folks.

I’m a comic book and Star Trek geek at heart, so I often get caught up in the details when it comes to movies. I know there’s been a lot of debate regarding the new Batsuit designed for the upcoming sequel The Dark Knight. Some people like the functional/samurai look of it (including me) while others think the suit from Batman Begins is at least somewhat closer to the concept of the comic books.

Variety reported that Warner Bros. has started the ponderous wheels of film development turning with the hiring of a writing team to pen a screenplay for a possible Justice League movie. I have to say that I agree completely with the commentary over at RopeofSilicon.com where they say that it is unlikely this film gets made anytime soon.

This movie would be a massive undertaking and unless the studio is off it’s nut it would have to bring in Christian Bale to play Batman and Brandon Routh to play Superman. And that’s just the start of it. Think about the budget for a film that needs to showcase at least half a dozen well-known superheroes and the level of catastrophe and villain that would be worthy of engaging them!