“We have a fantastic story!”
Chris Nolan has been a bit of a blabbermouth — well, compared to his usual tight-lipped standards. In an interview with the LA Times, Nolan (again, by his standards) started to wax lyrical about his “godfather” role over a new Superman franchise and gave a few small updates on what was happening with the next Batman film.
The full article can be read here, but to summarise it, he discusses how he plans to “shepherd” the new franchise with obviously somebody else taking on directing duties. He says “It’s very exciting, we have a fantastic story, and we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.” The biggest thing I get from the story is the fact that Nolan seems genuinely excited, inspired and motivated to take on this project. And a motivated and inspired Nolan last resulted in “The Dark Knight.”
When discussing the previous outings for Superman on the big screen, Nolan pays tribute to Bryan Singer’s hotly-debated “Superman Returns,” but also goes on to say, “A lot of people have approached Superman in a lot of different ways. I only know the way that has worked for us that’s what I know how to do. Each serves to the internal logic of the story. They [Batman and Superman] have nothing to do with each other.”
It’s a slightly disappointing piece of news for the majority of fans of DC’s World’s Finest. But, as much as I would love to see the DC films deal with a bigger universe a la Avengers, if making Superman the standalone hero in his universe gives us a kick-ass Superman film, I can live with the sacrifice. Plus, it’s common for Superman to be depowered in some way to not make his allies seem so … redundant, which for me is a big no-no, so I can see the benefits. Nolan and co. frustratingly regain their control over their lips when asked about potential villains. They do say that the current rumours of a Lex Luthor/Brainiac plot is purely fanboy speculation. But could they be simply bluffing or double bluffing at this point? A reported Superman “period piece” is also referred to as fan fiction.
Moving onto discussing “Batman 3,” he mentions his brother Jonah Nolan is currently writing the script. He wouldn’t give away specifics, but did says regarding the villain/s of the piece “it won’t be Mr. Freeze.” The Batman fanboy collective can be heard breathing a sigh of relief.
Interestingly, he did mention how movies, unlike comic books, should have an end to a story and that “Batman 3” will be an end to his Batman story. What could that mean? A resolution to the events from the end of “The Dark Knight”? Or something more shocking perhaps? The death of Batman, anyone?
I’m sure once Nolan locks down “Inception,” the big big news will come flooding through. And I get the feeling that with Nolan onboard both of these franchises, The Avengers are gonna have one heck of a fight on their hands!
Superman/Batman art by Adi Granov
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Obviously, I would feel much better about all of this if I knew Routh was returning.
It’s time for Mr. Mxyzptlk to have his moment in the spotlight!
We don’t need Routh. The Nolans will make Superman awesome and serious at the same time!
Nice to finally hear his words/thoughts on superman. It would probably be best right now with all the issues trying to tie all these characters together. Since so many are at different stages or no stage of development. So making superman only hero in his world like batman is probably a good move. Also i liked that he said this will be a different film then donner or singer’s versions. Which is what we really need for superman. Cant wait to see what the story will be and what will happen. I hope they will make the right moves this time.
I agree, I want Routh and the original cast back. I am one of the few who loved Superman Returns!