The thought of The Man of Steel serving as the set-up for Justice League gives me goosebumps. Overall, I love Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy (wasn't the biggest fan of TDKR, though), but I think it's best left as a standalone series. I don't believe it should tie into the bigger DC movieverse. Presenting us with a new Batman (and maybe even Robin) and making us accept that as the status quo wouldn't be difficult... but I'm not the one making those calls, am I? I'd clearly prefer a "fresh start" for Batman and his connection to DC's iconic team, but, if the latest rumor is to be believed, that's not what Warner Bros. is doing.
If Latino Review's scoop turns out to be true, that means Nolan's universe will transfer into the bigger picture. Actor Christian Bale will reprise his role as The Dark Knight and his three films will merge into this expansive universe. However, according to ComicBookMovie , only half of the rumor is true. They claim Nolan will serve as the creative consultant for the DC films, but Bale won't return. If that's true, that means it would be a new beginning for Bruce in the JL film.
Some love this idea, some loathe it. Regardless of which side you're on, we're all wondering how it'll work. Well, I'm here to speculate a bit about that. After all, Marvel Studios is making a film about a talking space Raccoon with massive guns and a space tree creature. So, Warner Bros. should be able to make sense of this, right?
What about "Robin?"
Despite that cheesy first name (oh, come on), there's no reason to believe we'll see Joseph Gordon-Levitt flipping around in a pair of green undies. What if Justice League takes place several years after Rises? That would give him ample time to train (you know, assuming he doesn't die the first week on the streets) and, while he won't become as formidable as Bruce, he could still become a worthy hero. Who's to say Bruce couldn't help train him, either? Yes, he's considered dead back in the States, but being stealthy has never quite been an issue for him, has it?
Years could pass of him training "Robin" and when the Justice League movie comes around, we could see our movieverse equivalent of Nightwing / Robin. After all, Blake was a police officer, so maybe he'd want to add a hint of blue here and there to the armor. Yes, he wants to follow in Batman's footsteps, but there's no reason to believe he wouldn't want to be his own man as well. Slight changes to the costume can represent this and, in turn, become our nice little nod to Dick Grayson.
On the other hand -- and this is feels unlikely -- Blake could die while trying to sport the cowl. This tragedy could motivate Bruce to return to his crime fighting ways, and eventually become a part of the team when the time comes. Again, a fresh start would be the easiest way to approach this, but if this rumor holds true, it shouldn't be too tough to work with.
Where were the heroes in The Dark Knight Rises?
If Manhattan Gotham City was held hostage by a terrorist organization, you'd imagine Superman would swoop in and save the day, right? Or what about The Flash? He could move all of those trucks into the ocean before Bane even blinked. So, where were they? It's by all means an understandable question and it's clear Nolan's universe was intended to not include metahumans. However, this is something they can easily reverse. Truthfully, I doubt they'd even dive into it and just assume we'd accept it. But seeing as we're nitpickers, I'll try to tackle this one.
For all we know, the newsworthy events in Man of Steel could begin after the course of events in Batman's third film. Or, Clark could still be growing up while Bane held Gotham hostage. As for the rest of the roster, they were simply elsewhere or occupied with other matters. The Flash? Still discovering his powers. Aquaman? In Atlantis. Wonder Woman? On Themyscira and not worried about the troubles in "Man's World." Green Lantern? Off in space handling cosmic matters. Martian Manhunter? Hiding as John Jones. So on and so on.
Ultimately, I imagine this is something the general audience wouldn't care about, so don't be shocked if they don't bother addressing it (in the event this rumor is true, obviously).
Aren't Nolan's movies too realistic?
Are they really, though? Sure, Nolan made a franchise more grounded than the other comic book movie, but it was by no means "realistic." Batman went from broken to prime in an amazingly short amount of time and minimal care. A magic knee brace? Escaping that explosion with only seconds left? At the end of the day, having Bale (and possibly "Robin) pull off more impressive feats in a more "unrealistic" world really isn't that big of a deal in my eyes. If we're going to dive into a world where a man has heat vision or can shatter mountains with his fists, I really don't care if an insanely well trained human is pushing the limits of human potential... do you?
While I'd definitely prefer a brand new start for the Caped Crusader in Justice League, I do believe they can pull off making his recent trilogy canon. Although, no matter what the studio finally decide to go with, I think we can all agree we just want the movie to be well worth the wait. Well, that's my two cents about it. What about you, viners?
Gregg Katzman is a freelance writer for Comic Vine and IGN Entertainment. This is the part where he shamelessly plugs his Twitter page in hopes of getting a new follower or two.