The mega-successful and critically acclaimed Dark Knight had hardly hit theaters last year and already there was high anticipation (at least in the geek/online movie circles) for Batman 3. We have heard rumor after rumor after rumor about the third installment, including everything from Christopher Nolan not returning to Eddie Murphy playing The Riddler (I would have given up on life if that latter one was true), all turning out to have a distinctive lack of truth to them.
One of the biggest desires of Batman fans is that Nolan comes back to direct, since he did such a good job with the last two Bat-films, breathing fresh life into an effectively dead franchise with Batman Begins and knocking just about everyone’s socks off with The Dark Knight. But will he come back to direct the third? Well, we’re still not sure, but “a solid and longtime source” over at the usually reliable Batman-On-Film says that Warner Bros. will finalize plans for Batman 3 in January of next year.
BOF notes that it’s not certain that there will be an actual official announcement, but they don’t seen any sense in keeping some key points a secret. The main pusher on this is Nolan’s Inception, which hits theaters next July. Next January is about the time the marketing craze will start for Inception (the rumored $200 million budget demands nothing less, I think) and if Nolan is on-board, I don’t see why they wouldn’t announce him before Inception’s marketing starts. He’ll be getting asked Batman questions relentlessly during that time, so it makes sense for WB to announce their plans either way (“to direct or not to direct, that is the question…” 
).
BOF‘s source also points out the obvious in that WB will be going ahead with Batman 3 with or without Nolan at the helm. They’re apparently operating on the assumption that he will return to do another, but aren’t setting all their plans on stone to coincide with his return. Basically, they’ll have to workout everything they can around Nolan’s questionable involvement as director, before moving ahead with or without him when the time comes to make that decision.
I know I’m just one of many fans to say this, but I really, REALLY hope Nolan returns to direct Batman 3. What he did with Batman Begins was nothing short of a miracle, and he did the unthinkable after that and topped Begins with The Dark Knight. I know the performance of Heath Ledger as The Joker is what most people talk about when they discuss TDK, but it flat-out would not have been as good as it was if Nolan hadn’t directed it. I personally would like to see him return to direct one more, cap off his input to the franchise/character with a trilogy, and move on after that and let someone else have a crack at it. But that’s just me.
Do you expect to see an announcement from Warner Bros. early next year of their plans for Batman 3, including whether Nolan will direct or not? It’s probably a silly question with an obvious answer, but would you like to see Nolan return? If by any chance the answer is no, who would you like to see direct instead?
And of course, it’s never to early to start wondering: What will Batman 3 be about?
We’ll keep you informed on the validity of WB’s supposed planned Batman announcement. Stay tuned.
Inception hit theaters on July 16th, 2010.
Sources: Batman-On-Film (thanks to Film School Rejects)
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batman 3: shadow of gotham pt 1 villians
black mask- making waynes life a living hell
holiday- a contract killer for black mask. he kills important people in gotham
nigma/riddler- a zodiac writer while nigma is a rat
batman 4: shadow of gotham pt 2 villians
joker- a sycho, who is investigated by a psychologist, and falls in love with his nurse
harley quinn- obsessed with mr. j. she commits crimes with more of a comic personality
holiday is murdered
gordon looses his wife
batman tries to not break his rules
@ Ken J
Have you thought about being in the film industry? I have at one time till i change my mind on it. Btw, have you went on that Myspace.com to take that quiz and see what comic book villain you would be? I took the Superhero quiz and the top 3 for me came in this order. 1. Superman 2. Wolverine & 3. Batman which i was hoping for but Superman counts for somthing i guess. Who you gonna vote for for Black Cat?
I have no input for black cat, don’t know anything about the character to be honest…
@ Ken J
For input on Black cat that would help, i suggest maybe watching episodes of the 90′s Spider-man animated series. Throughout the series she’s first introduced just as Felicia Hardy in the first episode w/ Doc Ock kidnapping her when Peter is on his way to her house for a date. Then she dates Peter for a short while before dating Michael Morbious before he turns into a vampire and thats when things get interesting. And we see her forced to under-go the super soldier surum under the Kingpin after finding her father is still alive and so on.
@anonymous (from November 17, 2009 at 5:38 pm)
Please break out your comments into more managable sized paragraphs. Right now your post looks like a big word dump that would hcase most away from even trying to read and that could be a shame b/c you might have something very informative to share but its lost in a sea of words.
New mission for Batman film. BEAT TWILIGHT!!!
thanks andre. your child-like response is so moving.
@M-Cat
Don’t worry about andre, you won’t be seeing comments from him again and if they do sneak through they’ll be deleted as soon as I find them.
Vic
Can`t wait to see this!!!!! One problem, though.
TDK kinda already felt like an end to the Batman franchise. Is there a way to bring back Rachael Dawes?
” You`re not a hero.”? That`s it!!!! That pretty much feels like a conclusion to the franchise!!!!! how many more movies can they carry on with Batman when they`ve already used the joker?
And i thought Keaton was the best Batman 20 years ago. Val Kimer and Clooney were ok, but too watered-depth assumption. None of then did looked like Batman, though i thought for some reason Keaton was the best. Not as good as Bale todday though.
Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men, and Iron Man and maybe hulk all tied as my favorite Superheroes. As well as Captain America.
“Nolan’s Batman films arent that great. People over exaggerate too much.”
Matter of opinion, of course.
Personally, I think Nolan’s Batman films are some of the best things that have happened to the Batman franchise.
As far as the next film: I think we need Harvey Dent/Two Face back … perhaps he wasn’t really killed, but rather locked up in Arkham Asylum. That would make an interesting concept.
I really like what Nolan did to the Batman movies, but personally I love Batman Begins a lot more than The Dark Knight. TDK is a bigger movie, no doubt, but I felt it was a bit too sloppy in many places, especially the end. I’m excited for Batman 3 but I hope they bring Two-Face back because he’s always been one of my favorite villains along with The Joker.
would you all hate me if i said i really dont like chris nolans batmans, and i especially hate the idea of Johny”im going to over act in every one of my movies” Depp, playing the riddler!?
would you all hate me if i said i really dont like chris nolans batmans, and i especially hate the idea of Johny”im going to over act in every one of my movies” Depp, playing the riddler!?
sticking with the ties the first 2 movies had to the “The First Year” story-line isn’t a bad idea with the Arkham escape. Cast a new Joker just for the escape scene, as his vision of chaos is about to be realized and is no longer needed (and serves as a “tribute” of sorts to Ledger w/o butchering the character he portrayed). Harley Quinn triggers the escape, and teams with Riddler as the movie’s villains. I would say to leave Robin out of it as he isn’t much of a “film-friendly” character, and people (or at least I) want to see Batman save the day alone. At some point, the public is made aware of Two-Face’s deeds before death, paving the way for more dark times for Gotham and The Caped Crusader.