Broken Frontier

In a recent interview with Empire Magazine (via MTV Splash Page), filmmaker Christopher Nolan said that the Joker will not be returning in the hotly anticipated sequel to The Dark Knight, which is slated to hit theaters in 2012.

“No,” the director bluntly replied when asked if the Clown Prince of Crime would be recast for the next film following the untimely death of actor Heath Ledger. “I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it.”

What Nolan did feel comfortable talking about was the screenplay, which his brother Jonathan is working on. He didn’t go into specifics, but said the story is something that “everyone is very excited about.” He continued, “We particularly like where we are taking the characters and what the ending is.”

In the interview, Empire also touched on the possibility of a Batman/Superman crossover, since Nolan has been hired by Warner Bros. to “godfather” a reboot of the Man of Steel’s movie franchise. However, Nolan was quick to note that while a shared film universe is working for Marvel Studios, the same wouldn’t ring true for DC’s characters.

“Marvel characters are very different to DC characters, and the key DC characters are very different to the minor DC characters,” Nolan told Empire. “You’ve got to go back to that element of, ‘What do I see when I close my eyes and think of Batman? What do I see when I close my eyes and think of Superman?’ And for me a big part of that is their individuality. They are extraordinary beings in an ordinary world. And the reason I think the two are fascinating is because Superman is very specifically superpowered and obviously otherworldly; Batman is very human and flawed. They’re two very different characters, but there's an elemental feeling of power in the iconography of those characters. To me that’s originally because they stood alone. I need to hang on to that in my imagining of them.”

Although Nolan is expected to helm the third and presumably final film in his Batman series, he has yet to confirm that he will be directing it.