March 10th, 2010 -- Written by Rodney
While I am getting emails telling me Nolan is officially directing and writing Superman, I have to tell you that just isn’t true. At least not yet. It seems that his partner David Goyer who is writing Batman 3 has a pitch in mind for the Man of Steel and it has Nolan excited, but he isn’t signed on to direct or help Goyer write.
He is still just being considered the Godfather to Kal-El, offering a watchful eye over the property development. However he did speak on the subject and talked about Batman 3 to the LA Times
Worst Previews quotes:
Apparently Nolan and writer David Goyer were working on ideas for “Batman 3″ when “Superman” discussions started. “He basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman,’” Nolan recalled. “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 [wife Emma Thomas] and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.”Goyer and brother Jonathan Nolan are now finishing up the script for “Batman 3,” which will be the last installment in the franchise. “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,” Nolan said. “And in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story.”
Nolan backing both Superman and moving ahead with Batman3 is exciting news indeed.
I have full trust in Nolan that he will handle Superman with the most delicate of care, and while he is only producing/advising, his input and vision will certainly steer the film. But it is amusing to think that if anyone OTHER than Nolan said “a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before” the fanboys would be in panic mode already wondering if they were going to “rape their childhood!”
And his approach to Batman 3 sounds kind of final making me wonder if he is going to end his run with the cape and cowl with this third film. He says this will “finish our story” which could easily mean this shaping of the hero he becomes. He doesn’t want to expand the universe of Batman, but perhaps his vision originally extended just to get Bats to a certain point in his career and then he would be done with the story.
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I would’ve enjoyed this article alot more if Nolan had actually told us some of his ideas for Superman or Batman 3.
Enough with the cloak and daggers! We are geeks and hungry for answers! =p
It’s hard to hand out facts when nothing is final.
One thing missing from the above quote, is that the LA Times article says about the Superman reboot: “Goyer is now writing the screenplay and Nolan is keeping it close to the vest”.
I think this means it’s past the “pitch phase”, as the first draught screenplay is being written as we speak.
Also, earlier in the article it said: “There was a spasm of fan excitement when word leaked last month that Nolan, who is now viewed as the Hitchcock of superhero cinema after his two Batman films, would be the “godfather” for a reboot of the Man of Steel, acting as producer and mentor to an as-yet-unnamed-director who will be making a movie based on a story by Nolan and frequent collaborator David S. Goyer.”
So the story (pitch) was written by both Nolan and Goyer at an earlier phase.
Exciting news :-)
Nolan is who the LA Times was quoting as giving the information about Goyer’s script.
That line does not suggest that Nolan is writing the script, just that he knows what the pitch entails, and is “keeping it close to the vest”
Nolan will have input on the series, but ultimately it is Goyer who is writing this.
Agreed, story/pitch was written by both, but screenplay (based on said story)is currently being written by Goyer only.
PS: At least I *think* we’re agreed, lol. I don’t recall every mentioning Nolan writing or co-writing the actual screenplay!
Nolan’s the producer/mentor of a “movie based on a story by Nolan and frequent collaborator David S. Goyer” as the article says - now being fully scripted by Goyer *only*.
Considering Nolan is involved in both now, I wish that whole Batman vs. Superman thing would come true.
The Dark Knight Returns, here we come! *cross’ fingers”
Nolan has addressed that, and has said that the two will never meet.
So long as Nolan is in charge of this (like Robin) he will be keeping them separate.
Which raises the question of Justice League.
Damn. I still really want to see it adapted to film though.
That would be great if Nolan was involved in JLA.
I can understand him not wanting to put Robin in, but to throw out any possibility of a JLA happening? Suppose it has to do with Bale saying he wont play Bats in a JLA movie or Nolan feels like a JLA movie could never work?
I guess they’re just using Nolan to set up some of the main DC characters, in this case Bats and Sups, and then once they are all set up, Nolan will be done and then they’ll start making JLA?
I hope I live to see the day when we have an older Batman, ala Dark Knight Returns.
Me too, me too..
I’d love to see Clint Eastwood as an old Batman. He’s definitely got the voice for it.
Who’s the villain gonna be!?!? :)
Most likely The Riddler and maybe Harley Quinn(I hope).
A Nolan-themed Superman film will make fanboys and non-fanboys happy.
Hope they’ll cast Henry Cavill, which I read somewhere in Wikipedia.org, was also in the running for the Bruce Wayne/Batman role in Batman Begins before Christian Bale was cast. I’m very sure Nolan knows this guy. What do u think Rodney?
Whilst I personally think it’ll be a great shame to ditch Routh, Henry Cavill does look the part - has anyone seen him pull off an American accent though?
Personally haven’t seen him in anything yet, but I am amazing at how many foreign actors can pull off an American accent so well. And he certainly does look the part.
But on that note, did they ever give a good reason why they’re now ditching Routh for someone else? I guess because this will be a reboot, but still. And as a reboot, are we going to have to sit threw the whole origin story all over again? I hope not.
I’d love to hear Nolan’s take on a Justice League movie, and am super excited he’s help relaunch Superman. So I’m assuming he’s passing the reigns of the Batman legacy on to other directors after the 3rd one? I wonder who’ll be the villain(s). Everyone’s commenting The Riddler, but I don’t know how it would work in Nolan’s movies. I can only see Nigma being the equivalent of Jigsaw from the Saw franchise. I don’t think he wants people to confuse Batman and Saw.
While it may be earth shattering that Nolan says Bat 3 is the last Batman film for him, rest assured someone will carefully pick up the mantle. I also may not like it, but this would also give WB/DC the chance to recast (*after Bat 3*) and do a JLA film, just without Supey.
No comment on Supey.
I still think it’s a dead horse that is still beat down with sticks.
I would love to see Nolan take on Bane as the villian for the next Batman. I think Nolan would actually give us the Bane from the comics instead of the horrid shell of a villian that was shown in the George Clooney/Arnold Batman movie. I think Nolan would do fine with Riddler, Pengiun, Catwoman, etc., but Bane would be awesome.
I LOVE the idea of “finishing a story, if it in fact means that Nolan wants this film to end with no possibility of picking up the series down the road, at least not in the immediate future. This could be truly new ground in the comic book genre to have a beginning, middle and end rather than a beginning and then running the franchise into the ground. Finish it up and leave the door open a tiny tiny crack fro the dark knight returns or just slam the door shut and kill off batman at the end. It would show tremendous balls and I would love it.
There’s no such thing as shutting the door, someone can always come back and “reboot”
Clearly, but we’re talking about Nolan’s story here.
It would be cool if they began to introduce superman towards the end of batman 3 and get the ball rolling from there for a justice league story just how they are handling the marvel series.
I think the best way to interpret Superman on live-action , besides the Reeve films, is to have a “Kingdom Come”-type treatment for the Man of Steel. That’s what the fanboys and the mainstream audience want at this point. Hope Nolan knows that.
Kingdom Come would be a great story, but its not the treatment that “the fans want”. I certainly dont want them to skip ahead to the end of all these character’s lives to a senior citizen Superman retired on a farm.
As much as it would be interesting to see them do a future retirement storyline, I doubt that’s what Nolan wants to do.
What I can see him doing is toeing that line that separates the complete unreality of Superman and somehow making it fit with reality. That is what he is good at.
Kingdom Come is like Watchmen…its very epic in scope and wouldnt be a “Superman” film…although I would LOVE to see it on film.
So I see the Nolan Gods are eyeing Supe’s huh?
not a bad idea. just keep Lex to a minimum please!
what about CLAYFACE???
No chance. Clayface would be completly out of place in Nolan’s films, like Mr. Freeze.
Does anyone think jla would be better off without batman?
Not me.
JLA is Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman… and their friends.