'Batman' Reboot Planned Before 'The Dark Knight Rises' Even Starts Filming

The word "reboot" has been tossed around a lot lately, especially as comic book movies have come to the forefront of Hollywood moviemaking. Some were shocked at how quickly the "Spider-Man" franchise was rebooted after Sam Raimi's third film, but Warner Bros. has just put that turnaround to shame.

Jeff Robinov, who is soon to be WB's new president, has announced that there will be a reboot of the "Batman" franchise after Christopher Nolan's third Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises," is completed. The fact that this is Nolan's last Batman film is not a huge surprise: Nolan has been saying for a while that he will not direct another one.

What is surprising is that WB is already planning a reboot before the current franchise is even dead. To put it in Shakespeare's terms, the funeral-baked meats are totally going to coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.

Luckily for the fans of the current trilogy, it seems that Nolan will still be involved: We have the third Batman, but then we’ll have to reinvent Batman," Robinov said. “Chris Nolan and [his wife] Emma Thomas will be producing it, so it will be a conversation with them about what the next phase is."

This news is especially interesting coming off of yesterday's announcement that there will be a "Justice League" movie in 2013. Christopher Nolan and others attached to the "Batman" films have said that this version of Batman doesn't live in the same universe as Superman and other DC heroes.

If Batman is rebooted, that could easily change and, along with "Wonder Woman" and "Flash" movies (currently being written), the necessary characters for a "Justice League" movie will be introduced: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern will all have their own films.