Hero Complex got the chance to do two things movie fans everywhere would pay good money to do. First they were invited to the editing suite of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, getting a peak this summer’s most mysterious and intriguing movie. While there they also got the chance to talk to Nolan about a few other projects he’s working on. Nothing big. Just Batman 3 and a Superman reboot.

For those who haven’t keen keeping up on Nolan’s Superman/Batman situation (shame on you!) here’s what’s happening in one sentence: David Goyer and Jonathan Nolan are co-writing the script for Batman 3, which Nolan will direct, and they will also be co-writing the script for a Superman reboot, which Nolan will produce. Exciting stuff.

Here’s what Nolan had to say about The Dark Knight co-writer David Goyer coming up with a Superman concept:

“He basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman. 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 Emma and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.

“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.”

On Batman 3:

“My brother is writing a script for me and we’ll wait to see how it turns out…he’s struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be.”

“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, and in viewing it as the finishing of a story rather than infinitely blowing up the balloon and expanding the story. We have a great ensemble, that’s one of the attractions of doing another film, since we’ve been having a great time for years.”

It looks like Nolan is preparing the third Batman film to be the last, well for him and the world/story he has created at least. I’m sure we’ll be getting more Batman movies after Batman 3, just like we had other Batman movies before Batman Begins.

Nolan also said that the Superman reboot will be in a different universe to his Batman world, so we shouldn’t be expecting any Marvel-like crossovers or a Batman vs. Superman movie.

Warner Bros., DC Comics and Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel (and his heirs) have been in a legal war over the Superman rights and money for a while, and now Warner Bros. and DC Comics have won a favorable ruling according to Variety:

In a decision announced Wednesday, U.S. Judge District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson found that the license fees the studio paid to corporate sibling DC Comics didn’t represent “sweetheart” deals as they weren’t below fair market value. That means the heirs will be able seek profits only from DC Comics — which earned $13.6 million from Warner Bros. for the 2006 release of “Superman Returns” — rather than from Warner Bros. as well.

The judge, who conducted a 10-day bench trial, also noted that Warner Bros. chairman Alan Horn had testified that he hopes to make another “Superman” movie but added that the property wasn’t under development at the studio, that no script had been written and that the earliest another “Superman” pic could be released would be in 2012.

For whatever reason the Superman rights will revert back to the Siegel estate and that of co-creator Joe Shuster in 2013, so Warner Bros. only have until 2011 to start work on another Superman movie otherwise they will lose the rights. They’ve had since 2006 to decide what they want to do next and nothing has happened, so if they want cash in with another Superman movie they will need to decide what they want to do soon. Will it be a sequel or a reboot? Whichever route they decide go down we will find out over the next 18 months.

Nobody knows what’s going on with the Superman franchise. It’s unlikely Bryan Singer will be returning to direct the sequel. There has been talk of a reboot, as well as talk of a direct sequel to Superman Returns, however nothing has been announced. Warner Bros. have taken that long in deciding what the next move will be, that Brandon Routh’s contract to return as Superman has expired.

From Portuguese site Omelete (translated by /Film)

Here are the key quotes from Routh. Firstly, on the small matter of the contract:

The term of the contract expired. But if they call me again, I’ll go back to the character without thinking twice.

On Warners’ plans for the series:

I do not know anything. I’m sure that Warner Bros. is moving there, but everything is still uncertain. Actually, I do not know anything.

On why he thinks Superman Returns may have disappointed:

I think it is missing some beating.

I’ll assume ‘beating’ means action. I liked Brandon as Superman, and off the top of my head I can’t think of anyone else who could play him. If they do reboot/recast they will either have to get another unknown or go the opposite direction and hire a known actor.

X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner recently said that she would love Bryan Singer to return to the franchise after he left to direct Superman Returns.  X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are overall considered disappointments compared to X2, which I think is still one of the best comic book/superhero films ever made. Singer recently spoke to Total Film about not directing X-Men 3 and about possibly returning to direct X-Men Origins: Magneto.

From The Geek Files:

Speaking to Total Film, Singer said: “I’m eternally intertwined with X-Men now. What takes an audience four hours to watch – the first two movies – took six years of my life. So, to not be part of it….It’s a shame.”

Asked whether he wished he had directed X-Men: The Last Stand, he admitted he had that feeling “before I was watching it, during watching it, after watching it.”

Singer added:”It’s weird for me to watch it, because I’m so close to the universe. And also Brett is a good friend of mine. But, of course, I would love to return to that universe.”

And on the question of whether he might be interested in X-Men Origins: Magneto, he said: “Possibly. The only thing that concerns me about Magneto is that if the prequel were to follow the track I used in X-Men, which is Magneto’s history in the concentration camp, then I’ve lived in that world.

“Apt Pupil, X-Men and now Valkyrie…I’ve lived in that Nazi universe for quite a while. I just might need to take a little break before I do something like that.”

So far Bryan Singer is the only director who has proven he can make an X-Men film that pleases fans, critics and the general public alike, so for him to return to direct another X-Men film would be something i’d like to see. Wolverine would have been ideal for him as we saw in the first two films that he obviously knows the character well, however that one has been done. The opening scene of X-Men involving Magneto as a teenager is the exact tone and style X-Men Origins: Magneto should be, so Fox should definitely consider getting Singer back for that.

Singer also spoke about the Superman sequel/reboot/thing that has been talked about for the past few years. He doesn’t seem optimistic.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. There are still issues…I just…I just don’t know. I don’t necessarily…I don’t know. It’s one of those things where…It’s so weird talking about stuff unless I’m about to ramp up and shoot it.”

Singer should have stayed with X-Men instead of making Superman Returns. I liked the film, however it didn’t perform as well as expected at the box office. It wasn’t a huge success, but it wasn’t a total failure either.

We have heard some ideas about what Warner Bros may have planned for the Superman franchise, but nothing has been officially announced yet. We currently don’t know whether there will be a sequel to Superman Returns, or whether there will be a reboot. However, /film recently got directed to an interesting page on Legendary Pictures website:

/Film reader Alex L just sent me a link to a password protected page from the official Legendary Pictures website that lists “Superman Unleashed” as one of their upcoming films in development. The temporary plot synopsis included follows:

“Ramping up the action of its esteemed predecessor, the sequel to ‘Superman Returns’ promises to raise the stakes and take the audience to heights of action that no other superhero movie can achieve.”

So there you have it… Legendary Pictures, Warner Bros and DC are still working on a Superman Returns sequel, and not a complete reboot. The film will not be titled The Man of Steel, but instead Superman Unleashed.

One of my other sources claims that the title is just a working title and they are still hearing pitches from different writers.

It is interesting to note that since the page was discovered Legendary Pictures have removed the page from their website. Hmm…

Variety’s Anne Thompson reports that Superman: Man of Steel, sequel to Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, is still not moving forward at Warner Bros.

Fans have been clamoring all over the web–and on this blog–for a complete reboot. And within the halls of Warner Bros. the same debate rages on. They too believe that the last movie didn’t break the mold and wound up in some kind of middle limbo. Today I was told that it is a priority at the studio to find the right direction and if Bryan Singer is willing to do that, fine, but if he gets in the way, he may not stay on the project. There are no writers working on a Superman script now. The studio wants to figure it out. “It might be better to start from scratch,” one exec admitted.

Do Warner Bros. ditch Bryan Singer and go with a director who will take Superman in a different direction? Or do they do a ‘Hulk‘ and pretend Superman Returns didn’t happen, eventually setting up a reboot?

Personally I couldn’t give a damn, but what do the fans think?

The Hulk franchise has just had a revamp and now it could be Superman’s turn. Mark Millar, the writer behind Wanted told The Daily Record some interesting info:

“I’ve been planning this my entire life. I’ve got my director and producer set up, and it’ll be 2011. This is how far ahead you have to think. The Superman brand is toxic after that last movie lost 200 million, but in 2011 we’re hoping to restart it. Sadly I can’t say who the director is, but we may make it official by Christmas. But fingers crossed it could work out, that would be my lifetime’s dream.”

It was only a few months ago that Bryan Singer told us he had intentions to direct Superman: Man of Steel, so something may be going on at Warner Bros.

Superman Returns only just made $200 million in America, and less than that worldwide. If they were going for the ‘three years between sequels’ thing they would have started by now, or we would have heard something at least.

However, keep in mind that Mark Millar got himself into some hot water after generating a story that Eminem was “begging” to star in Wanted. Eminem’s agent and Universal issued strong denials about the story and it was revealed to be a publicity stunt to get Millar some free press. Could Millar be saying this just to generate some buzz so that he can fulfil his life long dream?

The status of Superman: Man Of Steel was unknown after the Justice League movie started developing. Would the ‘less than expected’ performance of Superman Returns mean that Warner Brothers would rather lump him in the Justice League movie, rather than spend another $200 million on his own venture? Well today we have got some news that clears a few things up. First IESB got word that Bryan Singer was back in the directors chair, but writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris were out. Some people though that Superman Returns lacked action. So who else better to replacing them than the writers of Transformers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. This is currently speculation and nothing has been confirmed yet.

Meanwhile over at Empire, Bryan Singer had a few words to say on the project:

“I’m just getting back with writers after the strike. We’re just in the development phase. I’m starting to develop a sequel…with the intention of directing it”

About the negative reaction to the first film’s focus on the drama instead of the action, Singer added, “The first one was a romantic film and a nostalgic film… And now that the characters are established, there’s really an opportunity to up the threat levels….Clearly there’ll be a body count [laughs]. From frame one, it will be unrelenting terror! All those teenage girls who found the movie and mooned over James Marsden or Brandon? Well, I’m going to wake them up!””

In my opinion we didn’t need the characters to be established. Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor have been around for decades, we didn’t really need an introduction to them as around 90% of people know who they were already. Hopefully Singer can learn from his mistakes and make Man Of Steel better on all levels.