Ben Fritz of the LA Times sat down with Jeff Robinov, the newly appointed head man at Warner Bros. on to talk about his new role within the company. The highlight of their discussion is talk about the future of Batman after The Dark Knight Rises. Here is what the article had to say about the future of Batman:
Robinov knows that the most bankable part of his superhero empire has been Nolan and his Gotham City films – the studio has yet to deliver a 21st century superhero blockbuster hit without Nolan in the director’s seat. Batman will continue to be a centerpiece property beyond next year’s “The Dark Knight Rises” and Nolan’s departure from the franchise. “We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman…Chris Nolan and [producing partner and wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is.”
So looks like Nolan will not be coming back for a fourth after all. Well, at least not in the form of a director. It appears that the reason for the "reinvention" could be a plan for Batman to appear in another DC Entertainment film. Although Robinov was not directly quoted about a Justice League film, here is what the article said.
But Robinov said a new Justice League script is in the works. Also being written for Warner are scripts featuring the Flash and Wonder Woman, who could be spun off into their own movies after Justice League. Though Wonder Woman is also in the works as a television pilot for NBC produced by Warner, Robinov dismissed that as a sticking point. “Wonder Woman could be a film as well, the same way that ‘Superman Returns’ came out while ‘Smallville’ was on,” he said, referring to the 2006 film that put Brandon Routh in the cape and the television show starring Tom Welling that is now in its 10th and final season.
So will Batman go from The Dark Knight Rises straight to appear in the next summer for a Justice League movie? Well, the article does mention that they plan on getting the characters of the DC Universe in one film by summer of 2013. Looks like Warner Bros. aims to compete with Marvel's Avengers that same summer. Stay tuned as more news about this film and The Dark Knight Rises becomes available.
Posted by Dustin Fritschel
