Yeah, I know. That is clearly a picture of JGL as Nightwing and not Batman. Sorry, but I’ve been waiting a while to use that fan-made picture, so deal with it. I also know that I got your hopes up with the title only to immediately shatter them afterwards. You are not alone in this feeling. Earlier in the week some rumors started to fly that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would don the cape and cowl to portray Batman in Warner Bros. upcoming Justice League. Now I use the term upcoming very loosely, because we have all been through this before with a Justice League movie so I’m not putting too much stock into it getting made anytime soon.
With that being said, this rumor came out and seemed pretty sure of itself, not to mention it came from a reliable source that have had decent scoops in the past. So just what was the rumor that was so sure of itself? It originated on HitFix, and it was pretty straight up and to the point:
[box_light]According to sources, Joseph Gordon-Levitt absolutely will be appearing in “Justice League” as the new Batman.[/box_light]
Pretty confident. ‘Absolutely will be appearing’ is a hell of a statement. So with an announcement like that it’s no surprise that the internet kind of blew up over it. Fans rejoiced and fans spouted vitriol at the rumor, clamoring both sides of the argument. Should Justice League really use the character introduced to us in The Dark Knight Rises? And how awesome would it be if Justice League uses the character introduced to us in The Dark Knight Rises? This is clearly a world changing discussion. Moving on…
The rumor also goes on to speculate that JGL wouldn’t wait until Justice League to make his first appearance as Bats, and would possibly show up near the end of Man of Steel, effectively tying that movie into the JL universe along with Nolan’s trilogy, setting up another The Avengers style epic. Now this actually isn’t that far fetched, as Zack Snyder has recently alluded to connections between Man of Steel and Justice League, adding further fuel to the speculation fireL
[box_light]In a New York Post article, the Man of Steel director stated that Warner Bros. trusts him to “keep them on course” for Justice League while declining to provide further detail, “because that’s a big spoiler.” Though his comments suggest that some amount of interconnectivity between the new Superman film and what comes next is inevitable.
“I don’t know how Justice League is going to be handled. Honestly, I don’t,” Snyder said to the Post. “But Man of Steel exists, and Superman is in it. I don’t know how you’d move forward without acknowledging that.”[/box_light]
As to what really made me put some stock into this rumor was how quickly it was denied. Generally when we hear a rumor like this that seems out of this world, the actors involved have never even heard of it or are casually flippant about it. With this rumor, reps for JGL were quick to deny that he was in any way involved. It seems to me that a reaction like that means maybe there is something to this rumor after all.
Or not. It might just be a rumor. I guess we won’t really know until Man of Steel comes out, at the very least. If it turns out to be more than a rumor, than that is a huge step in the right direction for DC if they are trying to mirror the success of The Avengers. With a lot resting on Man of Steel‘s shoulders after the failure of Green Lantern, if they are planning on creating a connected cinematic universe this is pretty much the last shot.
So what do you think? Do you want to see JGL as Batman? Do you want to see a connected universe for Justice League? Are you still mad at me for using that photo of JGL as Nightwing? Well too bad, because here’s another one.
Anyway, sound off in the comments section below!
Grizzly Bomb 