Exclusive: Christopher Nolan Returning To Direct More Batman

Christopher Nolan is considering returning to direct another Batman movie and Nolan wants nothing to do with Ben Affleck.

By Liana Keane | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

Christopher Nolan batman

I’ve heard from one of my sources that after the huge failure of Tenet Christopher Nolan is considering returning to direct another Batman movie and Nolan wants nothing to do with Ben Affleck. So Affleck could be out as part of Warner Bros. broader plan to lure Nolan back into the world of making Batman movies. 

Christopher Nolan directed three Batman movies for Warner Bros. The final two movies in his Batman trilogy. The last two, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, are the two top grossing Warner Bros movies (domestically) of all time.  Warner Bros has always wanted Christopher Nolan involved in the future of their superhero franchises, but he has always said no.

Now though, with movie theaters dying and Tenet flopping, word is that Nolan’s stance on doing more Batman has softened and he’s open to new ideas. My source (the same source that made Giant Freakin Robot the first outlet anywhere to break the news that Wonder Woman 1984 would release on streaming) tells me Christopher Nolan is actually considering it. In the past the auteur has flatly rejected the idea of returning to Batman, however the very public failure of Tenet apparently rocked him to the core as a director, and he’s far more open to the idea of returning to the world Batman than he has ever been in the past.

Christian Bale

Which Batman movie Christopher Nolan might direct is unknown. Christopher Nolan’s grounded Batman films, unlike the more recent Zack Snyder movies, are a better fit alongside more recent successes like JokerJoker, by the way, sits just below Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies on the list of Warner Bros. top-grossing movies of all time.

For Warner Bros. this is a direction that obviously makes a lot of sense. And for Christopher Nolan, whose box office grosses have been declining steadily since he wrapped up The Dark Knight Rises, it could be just the shot in the arm his career needs.