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Christopher Nolan to Oversee Superman Reboot
Its a tough battle, but I don’t see Christopher Nolan as this infalable god that some people do, but I have to give him the respect he deserves. He made Batman a REAL franchise and broadened its appeal outside the comic book geeks and forever changed how supers were seen on the big screen.
So when any property is suggested to be adapted to the Big Screen, the fanboys all shout “LET NOLAN DO IT!” and for once they will get their way. It seems that Nolan will be given a powerful guiding hand to making sure Superman happens.
Deadline Hollywood reports:
Warner Bros is trying to ready its DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a “godfather” role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus.
I like that they are bringing him in to guide the project but not direct. This gives him more influence while letting someone else get their own flavour into it, and still keep it in line. In time he might just direct this reboot, but as of now he is just consulting.
I trust Nolan to do excellent work as he hasn’t let me down yet - especially with supers. It also makes sense that if Superman is to line up with the Marvel approach to an ensemble film, that Nolan would have some say in just how to make Superman a “real” film with unreal elements and pass it off as believable.
So yes, wave your Nolan flags. And yes, he has finally confirmed that he has his premise for Bats3 and that Johna Nolan and David Goyer are joining him in writing it.
Great news on all fronts. Looking forward to further news on supes and the new bat-flick.
They have a premise for Batman 3? That’s awesome.
I wonder if they could get Clayface as a villain :| :| :| :| :| :|
Naaahh! Deadshot and Riddler would be awesome, real(as Nolan wants it to be) and cool.
Once you put Superman into Batman’s world, you take away everything “real”, so they might as well go all out.
I heard(although its in all likely bullshit) that Mr. Freeze would be making a cameo in Batman 3 before he gets into his accident. Also, that Gordon would mention Luthor, and Metropolis in there as well(again, probably bullshit).
I agree, Deadshot and the Riddler would be awesome. Plus a role for Rupert Thorne and maybe Hugo Strange.
HARLEY QUINN please.
I just hope Nolan doesn’t try and bring a realistic Superman. Or have them crossover onto a film.
Nolan has said before that his Batman films exist in their own universe, and bringing Superman would destory all the realism of his Batman films.
Batman isn’t Superman.
I agree, and like i said in my comment below. The Superman stories and character have a lot of heart and isn’t vengeance based like Batman is. I think Returns just went way overboard with the sap and got lost in trying to make superman more human this time around.
Unfortunately for Nolan, this Batman is geared to be in Justice League should they ever achieve it.
All the new DC/WB films will be angled to potentially line up and exist in a world where the Justice League will exist.
And they are getting him to help them do that.
I really hope WB has the good sense to keep this Batman out of any crossover films. Nolan’s Batman exists in his own separate world, and it should remain that way.
If anyone could do it right it would be Nolan.
I have no problem crossing this Batman over into the rest of the DC world. Works fine in the comics.
But not on film, especially not these films. The introduction of superpowers completely rewrites the rules for the world and changes the conflict. They should keep Batman out of the JLA and keep him self-contained.
I still dont see why handled carefully the two cannot exist.
There is nothing saying aliens dont exist, or advanced technology or superpowers in Nolan’s Batman.
Batman can fall off a six story building and barely bruise a rib, drive a tank across rooftops, build a backflipping motorcycle, hitch a ride on a passing airplane, map a building with a sonar cellphone, get a fingerprint off a shattered bullet, and simultaneously listen in on every communication wave known to man, but a man cannot fly?
I get the defining line, but its not to say ever third person has powers. But Green Lantern and Superman can exist in the same league as Batman.
lol… see what I did there? lol
Bending the laws of physics a bit is not at all comparable to superpowers like ice breath, heat vision etc.
Introducing those elements undoes the grounding the films have built and completely changes the meaning of the conflict and even the basic tenents of Batman’s film universe. If Superman flew into Gotham in the next film, I think we’d all point out where the series jumped the shark.
Because the laws of physics that Batman is limited to dont also apply to ice breathing supers?
No.
Batman can fall off a six story building and barely bruise a rib
- his cape would could have potentially produced just enough drag to avoid bruising of ribs. medically speaking, its not completely far-fetched.
drive a tank across rooftops
- if a tank can get on a rooftop, then by all means, this is not far-fetched.
build a backflipping motorcycle
- it didn’t actually back-flip, get that one straight.
hitch a ride on a passing airplane
- probably the most unrealistic scene in the movie because the instantaneous force applied to his body would be enough to at least cause whiplash. however, with the proper harness it can be avoided… oh, wait. he does have a harness. not that far-fetched, actually.
map a building with a sonar cellphone
- frequencies are an amazing thing. how do you think NASA generates all those beautiful photographs from outer space, such as novas, gas clouds, etc? frequencies, my friend.
get a fingerprint off a shattered bullet
- highly unlikely given the impact force would separate vital pieces of the print, but in the movie it isn’t a perfect picture nor does he get a perfect match. i believe he got 6 hits and deduced the most probable.
and simultaneously listen in on every communication wave known to man
- correction, he didn’t listen to every communication wave known to man. it was just Gotham. and again, the beauty of frequencies. take a physics/astronomy course or read a book on it.
but a man cannot fly?
- name one man in the 10,000 years homo sapiens have flown and i’ll retract this whole post.
now, what slashbeast is saying is that there is no fucking way man can survive his core body temperature rising more than 5 degrees for a prolonged time, so how the hell is he going to survive being Mr. Freeze. it just isn’t in the realm of possibilities. enzymes wouldn’t function, mainly, leading to death.
just sayin’. get your facts straight.
I wonder if Nolan wanted the fantasy elements in his universe if he would have made Ra’s al Ghul mortal.
In the comics, his character is immortal, so for some reason Nolan must have thought it would be better to change that. Might that also be the same reason he wouldn’t want Superman in his universe?
Same basic principle. People aren’t biologically immortal and they can’t biologically fly. If he introduced those elements it undoes the very framework of the films.
@cloud720: Ras Al Ghul is not immortal. His life has been extended by his Lazarus Pits. I don’t really remember, but I don’t think the pits were mentioned in the movies. If Nolan decided to bring Ras back, that would be the explanation, as he’s died several times in the comics only to be brought back by exposure to the pits.
I only said immortal because I didn’t know of a better way to describe a man who has been alive for somewhere between 450 and 700 years.
I bet Nolan wrote a timid heist/gangster/psychological thriller and then made the hero archetype a billionaire who moonlights as a bat.
more like a gangster movie featuring batman rather than batman featuring a gangster movie
@Tincan, take a highschool physics class.
A car on a standard house roof would cause it to collapse, let alone a 5 ton armoured car SMASHING into the roof of a building with that large of a roof span. No way it could hold the vehicle up.
Even with the right harness, “hitching” like that would break your spine. The “right” harness, he wouldnt be able to walk. Sudden momentum like that would shatter your spine and dislocate your shoulders, let alone his passenger who managed to survive the ordeal in a three piece suit.
Your right, the motorcycle didnt backflip, it simply wall climbed, rotated its body and landed without a bounce. Because that’s more possible?
Fingerprint off a shattered bullet. Still impossible. Not even narrowed to six. Impossible.
Nasa doesn’t send a hand held device into space… its massive. Just sayin.
No man can have all the skills that Wayne has. Each skill he has takes a lifetime to accomplish and he has done them all? Not even a rich man with too much time on their hands could accomplish all that. Name one homo sapien who has all the master level skills of Batman (master detective, master forensics, master biologist, master martial artist of multiple forms, pilot, engineer, computer engineer) and I will retract this whole post.
The point is that Batman and things he does are impossible. So are super powers.
Im just saying that its not a problem in the comic books, and Batman fights supernatural people in the comics as well, so its not a stretch.
Nothing in Nolans Batman says that supernatural, super powers, super tech or aliens dont exist in the same world. Just that he has yet to encounter them.
There is no reason they can’t coexist. I know that the Nolan Batman films are more ‘real’ and gritty, but who says the Superman film can’t be the same way? Imagine if they did the Marvel strategy, but all the films had the realism of TDK?
Again, that’s in the comic books. It’s been made clear that in the film universe there are no superpowers. Bending the laws of physics is one thing. But having Superman fly into Gotham is not at all desirable for this series.
I have never heard that Superpowers didnt exist in Batman’s world. No where did he say “a man cannot fly” or anything to that sense.
In previous Batman films where there were no supernatural powers they still name dropped Metropolis and gagged that “this is why Superman works alone” and it didnt break the movie (there were other things that broke that movie)
There is no reason a real world styled superhero like Batman can’t exist in the same world where there are people like Superman.
Are you referring to Batman And Robin? That movie made no attempt to take itself seriously or have any sense of realism. I really think that is a bad example.
I agree that there are a number of things bad about Batman and Robin, but suggesting that somewhere out there, Superman exists wasn’t one of them.
And it was fine for that movie. Once again that movie made no attempt to be real.
Batman Begins and Dark Knight have made the attempt to make a superhero as real as possible.
And for the record, they didn’t even acknowledge that Superman was real. Superman could have been a comicbook character for all we know.
In Batman and Robin, they acknowledge the fictional city of Metropolis as well.
The circus that Grayson belonged to headed to Metropolis after their Gotham engagement - why include a fictional city if not to acknowledge its most famous protector.
That might be Batman Forever. I don’t think the circus was in Batman and Robin. But i do believe it was George Cloony that said “this is why Superman works alone”.
As for Batman Forever, Metropolis is a city in Illinois. Nice reference but it doesn’t really say Superman exists.
As for Batman and Robin, it was no different from Aunt May saying “You do too much - college, a job, all this time with me… You’re not Superman, you know” in Spider-man 1.
I really don’t think Nolan/Bale’s Batman would suit with the JLA universe. A JLA movie without Batman (for me) would be like a X-Men movie without Wolverine though. Some other Batman should be introduced in JLA movie.
Just because the movies don’t explict state that there’s no superpowers, doesn’t mean that there’s a possiblitiy of them existing. Everyone’s probably seen The Dark Knight Meets Superman video. Yes, it’s for laughs, but it highlights how the basic framework and conflict is altered when you introduce superpowers in Batman’s (film) universe. There are no superpowers in Nolan’s Batman, and it will remain that way.
Got to say that co-existing Superman with the current Batman would be completely out if tone. Batman currently is like the Bond films, in that it defies physics and things but stays in serious, kind of plausible territory. It woul be like the Daniel Craig movies doing a Moonrakeer remake or something.
I agree with you 99.9%; it would be great to see Nolan complete his version of the franchise with The Dark Knight Returns after one or two more films. His vision suits that story very well.
I’m sure Nolan will help and make sure that Superman doesn’t suck this time. I swear that the newest one felt like I was watching a soap opera with super heroes in it. It’s fine if you want to add emotion and narrative but Returns was way too sappy and got lost in it’s wave of superman “being human”. Shame because it was a waste of an excellent cast. Routh was a good choice in taking over Reeve’s spot and Spacey was very good as Luthor. I just re-watched the original 2 and those had heart too, but the execution of the story was much better. I love those two and I hope this next one is better.
I thought “Superman Returns” was FUCKING BRILLIANT, but too each their own.
This has made me the happiest kid on the planet.
Superman will always be my fav superhero and I can’t wait to see what Nolan can do with this.
This franchise deserves a proper story…I can only live off of smallville for so long.
I love the Nolan move if for no other reason than it’ll bring some kind of a sense of realism to the Superman cinematic mythos. I didn’t think that Singer did that bad of a job in this area but all the heavy handed soap opera bullshit lost me.
I would bring back Routh because I thought he was the best part of Returns. I wouldn’t even have the slightest hint of Luthor in this because that horse has been beaten to death, dismembered & creamated, & I would give him a villian that he can actually stand toe to toe with ala Doomsday or the new comic version of Braniac. Also please, please, please, please lose the kid. If I wanna watch baby-mama drama I’ll subject myself to Maury or Springer.
AGREED on every points.
How confusing would that be? Ok we are doing another Superman movie, and we are using Brandon Routh again, but this movie is not a sequel to the last.
You know, Brian Singer did consider using Tom Welling but he thought everyone would just think it was Smallville the movie. If they used Routh again, don’t you think everyone would think it was “Superman Returns, again”.
Yes I know they could make an announcement but how many people would know. Those who read about it online, which is not the majority of the movie going population. maybe they could announce it in the trailer, “this movie is in no way related to the last” but how lame would that be?
While I agree that Routh was a great Superman, the problem is that this is a Reboot, and will (as a rule) not include any of the previous stars in any way.
The other side of that coin is that they can ignore Superkid. Didn’t happen.
Silver lining my friend.
Agree, the revealing of superkid in Superman Returns bring WTF moment to me… in a bad way. Beside as the story itself, for something that lay dormant for so long, for such an icon, unfortunately, it didn’t have enough “ommph” to Superman mythos. Luthor as a real estate agent? c’mon….
I dont read any comics so when I ask this question keep that in mind…Do you think Nolan will go dark and gritty like he did with Batman or be more lighthearted with Supes? I liked SR but the love story bullshit killed it for me (as well as the kid). I have read Frank Millers Batmans novelas. It would be awesome to have a Good/”Bright” Supes movies then cross into FM Batmans books and make a movie…oh man would i geek out hard for that!!! The complete clash of styles, Batman’s dark grittiness verses Superman’s “halo” do gooder guy would be an amazing clash on screen. Well, here’s to hope!!!
@”Do you think Nolan will go dark and gritty like he did with Batman or be more lighthearted with Supes?”
Thats what I’m worried about with Nolan writting this. Batman IS dark, but Superman isn’t.
I think you’re assuming that Nolan will have more control over the project then the article says. It doesn’t say he’s writing the movie. He’s going to be acting in a mentor role to whomever they pick to make the movie. That might change, but I don’t think we’ll see Nolan’s Superman. We’ll see (insert director here) Superman with Nolan helping to guide the project.
After what Nolan has done with the Batman franchise, I’m pretty sure WB will let him do what he wants.
And what if he doesn’t want to direct it.
He is just put in a consulting position and a guiding hand to make sure the film is done right.
He might direct, and he might write. But right now he isnt. He is just there as a reliable bouncing board so we dont get a team of writers giving us another Superkid subplot.
And even if Nolan DOES write and direct this, I doubt it would be as gritty and realistic as Dark Knight.
Dark Knight was gritty and real because Batman is. It wasn’t gritty and real because Nolan is.
Nolan has enough respect for the source material with a vision to make it “real” that I would trust him to do this, but I doubt Superman would suddenly be all dark and gloomy. Supes is about hope and protection. Bats is about vengence.
The two can co-exist, but they would be different films and still happen in the same world.
Only if he ends up directing the movie. If they hire another director, he will have to be allowed to make his own movie. I can’t see anyone agreeing to make the movie after being told that they’re to do whatever Nolan says.
I’d also think that Nolan’s focus will be on completing Batman 3. I see him acting more as a consultant on this movie.
Nolan isn’t writing, producing or directing this. As has been stated before, he’s simply helping set this reboot in the right direction.
And Nolan won’t make Superman dark because that’s not what he is. He decided to pursue the dark/realistic Batman because that’s what the character is. He’s not going to transform the essence of the characters into something they aren’t.
I’m thrilled that Batman 3 is in the plans. Right now though, I won’t dare speculate on who Batman faces next, although I have my own Wish List like everyone else. I’ll confess that when the Nolans and Goyer get even halfway done with it, I don’t want them to tell anyone until the cast the role. Hopefully it will be a character we have not seen yet on screen.
As for Supey, you all know where I stand on it. (I would not want a reboot and still think it is a terrible idea to do so, although like most I would rather see other Super foes other than Luthor) However, I believe the same report also mentions that there IS the possibility of Singer and/or Routh returning (among others)?
And **just because** Nolan has been asked (and it seems accepted, although all it does is says he was asked) does not mean they are going to fold both into a JLA film, which is a huge mistake (in my view) all in itself. (Note: I don’t have high hopes for Marvel’s Avengers either, but I did think the approach was better)
On the other hand…it would knock me over if after Batman 3, “Batman 4″ quickly followed…as “World’s Finest”
Don’t give me that frown. If you all want to think that the news means Bats and Supes will be in an ill-fated JLA flick, then you also must entertain an alternative possibility.
bring on the women! to many guys in batman/nolanverse right now. Batman is known to have notable femme fatale that can go toes to toes with batman. It’s about time to let them loose
This is fantastic news! Nolan is bringing us Batman 3 and is helping resurrect Superman. Bring it on!
They will be faced with the blatant DC Universe (Earth I or II or another multi-verse…) that both heroes EXIST in that Universe/s. Thats the big hurdle, unless the Nolan Bats Trilogy is to be “completely” seperate and the next trilogy will be in the DC-verse….it will be interesting to see how that is worked out.
There’s nothing to work out. Nolan’s Batman is in a completely separate universe than the oher DC properties. It’s going to stay that way.
lol slashbeast, you need to understand that WB doesnt care if Nolan’s Batman is too realistic. They want a JLA film and quite frankly you cant do JLA without Batman
Yes you can. WB Won’t mess around with Batman 3 as long as Nolan’s on it. Afterwards they may want to integrate Batman into the JLA, but the last time the tried that Nolan shot the idea down and aided in getting the movie canned.
You can replace Batman with any number of heroes in a JLA film, the roster is constantly changing. If WB have any good sense they’ll keep this Batman out of the JLA.
The JLA cast is indeed ever changing. But who is always considered one of the founders and always considered one of the core members? Batman.
The JLA must have, in my opinion, Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman and Jon the Martian Man Hunter
I don’t think they have to keep Batman out. I just think that have to keep Nolan’s Batman out. Bale will fulfill his contract after 3 movies, and I’m sure Nolan will want to move on.
If it makes some fans feel any better, they can believe its the same Batman. For the rest of us, with a different actor it will be a different Batman.
^ Exactly. The current Nolan Batman should not be in the JLA. I hope to God that WB keeps him out. You could easily pull of a JLA story without Batman.
I know that everyone loves Nolan’s Batman, but I just don’t see a Justice League movie working without Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Much like Cap, Thor and Iron Man are the Avengers. Those three are the Justice League. I think it’s funny. On one hand everyone hopes that Marvel can somehow make an Avengers movie work. While at the same time wanting DC to keep Batman out of the Justice League, because they love what’s been done with his own movie. Of the big three, I think Batman is the most integral to the Justice League.
Makes sense, since he said that Dick Donner’s Superman was a big influence on him while he was making Batman Begins.
I’m glad to know that Chris Nolan is overseeing Superman at this point. Finally the chuckleheads at Warner Bros are REALLY DOING SOMETHING TO MAKE THE FANBOYS AND THE MAINSTREAM AUDIENCES HAPPY with this news. Hope Nolan will ask Geoff Johns to write a screenplay with collaborators Mark Millar, David S. Goyer and Jonah Nolan as well.
No, not Mark Millar, ever.
Woohoo!! Batman 3 !!!!!
Nolan is GOD.
I think, at this point, if Nolan keeps churning out box office gold on a regular basis (e.g. the billion dollar grossing The Dark Knight), he’ll get to challenge James Cameron. But right now , there is no argument that Jim Cameron is indeed the King of the Universe , when it comes to billion dollar grossing flicks like Avatar(2.2B) and Titanic (1.8B). Although I don’t know if Superman will be a billion dollar grosser like The Dark Knight did. That remains to be seen or it may not happen ever.
Batman 3 won’t make nearly as much as TDK, unless someone dies. You can praise the film all you want, but it wouldn’t have made that much if Ledger was still alive.
You have NO quantifiable proof that Ledger’s death had anything to do with the success of TDK.
Everyone in it was great. People didnt go to see it to see Ledger… if that were the case, Dr Parnassus would have done FAR better.
When TDK was released Ledger’s death was still fresh in people’s mind. When Dr. Parnassus was released people have gotten over it.
People are too busy sucking Nolan’s cock to realize this.
If it were Brad Pitt or Will Smith, I might think you had a point. But really, heath ledger wasn’t a big star to inspire that many people to go see a movie. Ledger has had one movie before dark knight to gross over 100 million. And he was barely in the patriot, that was a Mel Gibson Movie. Most of his other movies couldn’t make it 20 mil. If his death cause the movie to make that much, where did all of his fans suddenly come from?
If Ledger’s death got the film attention for the first week and it dropped off to obscurity with bad reviews and lowered attendance, I would say it was curiosity.
But Nolan’s previous film gave enough credibility for people to want to see TDK. Add in replacing Holmes with the far superior Maggie G, Aaron Eckhart, and the CHARACTER of Joker (fan favourite) and suddenly there is a movie worth seeing.
There was tons of buzz on this far before Ledger died. Ledger was fantastic in this, but so was everyone else. If he lived, the film would have been the same.
I never said it was the only reason it made money. TDK(while over-rated) was still a great film, but his death DID have some influence on the film’s box-office. And it wouldn’t have made as much as it did if he had lived.
Michael Jackson and Bernie Mac were far bigger stars than Ledger yet their last films didn’t make anywhere close to the amount The Dark Knight did.
Sure, there were some who saw it for his last completed performance, but that proportion is incredibly small and heavily outweighed by the people who aren’t completely insane and saw it because it was a great movie.
Anybody wanted to kill Jim Carrey because of his take on the Riddler?
no because his take was paying homage to Frank Gorshin
No. His performance was the highlight of that movie(sadly).
It was one of the better aspects of that film. Though I don’t care for his take.
I know, I know it was a better aspect or highlight, but that isn’t saying much. Val Kilmer was the worst Bruce Wayne.
Oh Shmaucher(or whatever the name is)*sigh* you gave us Batman with nipples.
Nah, Clooney was the worst Wayne ever, even worse than Adam West.
Clooney was the worst. Thank God his career took a turn for the better.
Clooney said it was after that that he realized his job as an actor was not just to show up on set. Maaybe we can all thank Batman and Robin for showing him the errors of his ways.
Yes we can.
I take a day off and all hell breaks loose!
Nolan huh? That’ll settle down the Bat Man underoos crowd, and giving Superman fans some hope for a serious film.
but as good as a craftsman Nolan is, He’s not a god of superhero flicks…Batman I think worked well cause he made a crime-drama and tossed bats in the mix..simular to his other good films..serious, intelligent, and gripping..
well see how this goes.
and I think it’s O.K. to have them all exist in one reality..
Holy Grail aside.