Ryan Reynolds To Take Over As Batman After The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan has always said that The Dark Knight Rises would be the last film in his Batman trilogy, but that doesn’t mean that Warner Bros. wants to stop producing adventures for the caped crusader. The franchise is a surefire box office hit and it wouldn’t make sense for the studio to just drop it after The Dark Knight Rises. They already lost Harry Potter and I’m sure that they’re not eager to lose another huge franchise.
Today, the studio announced that they plan on giving Batman a reboot once Christopher Nolan steps away from the franchise. Being a reboot, none of the original cast will be returning which means that the studio needs to find a new actor to play the caped crusader. Following in the footsteps of Christian Bale is a daunting task for just about anyone but Warner Bros. seems to think that Ryan Reynolds is the man for the job.
Yes, you read that right. Once Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale depart from the Batman universe, Warner Bros. will reboot it with Ryan Reynolds in the lead role. The studio recently worked with him on Green Lantern and though the film flopped, it wasn’t Reynolds’ fault. He showed us that he could craft an effective superhero and Warner Bros. obviously enjoyed his performance. Much of the film’s faults stemmed from the writing and directing, not from Reynolds’ performance.

“We’ve begged Chris [Nolan] to stay on board but he refuses. He feels that he can’t do anything more with the series after this third film. We don’t want to let Batman die though, we know there are tons of fans out there that will want more and that’s why we’re looking into a reboot,” says Barry Meyer, CEO of Warner Bros.
“We loved the work that Ryan did for us on Green Lantern and we feel that he’s the right man to lead the Batman franchise. He’s an extremely talented individual and we hope that fans will embrace him as the new Batman,” continued Meyer.

As for directors, nothing has been announced as of yet but apparently, the studio wants Duncan Jones. Jones, the director of Source Code, was rumored for both The Wolverine and Man Of Steel at one point so it’s clear that studios feel that he can handle big franchises. This is by no means confirmed though but it is what our source close to the studio has told us.

“Duncan impressed a lot of people with his work on Source Code and Moon, he’s very in demand right now and Warner Bros. is hoping to have him take over the Batman franchise,” says a source close to the studio.

So there you have it, Duncan Jones and Ryan Reynolds taking on Batman, what do you think?
I honestly enjoyed Reynolds’ work in Green Lantern and while I am surprised that Warner Bros. has chosen him to lead the franchise, I’m not upset with the choice. I think he has a lot of potential but he hasn’t reached it yet. He still hasn’t had that one huge role that will skyrocket him onto the A-list.  With his recent casting in the Batman reboot, this could be his moment. I feel like he’s been on the cusp of greatness for a long time now and with this role, he’ll be able to solidify his place on the A-list.
That being said, the studio had high hopes for Green Lantern and the film ended up flopping hard. Does that mean there’s a risk of the Batman reboot flopping too if Reynolds is leading it? I don’t think so, like I said above, Green Lantern‘s problems were with its script and direction, I don’t think you can fault Reynolds at all for the movie’s poor reception and box office take.
As for Duncan Jones, I’m sold. I love both Source Code and Moon and I think he’ll bring a very interesting vision to the Batman series. He’ll give us something very different than Nolan did but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I think both him and Reynolds will infuse a new energy into the series and give us an exciting final product.
This is a lot to take in and fanboys will surely be split right down the middle on this decision but as you can tell, I’m on board. I love what Nolan and Bale did with Batman but I’m ready for a fresh new take on the iconic superhero.
What about you? Are you on board with Reynolds and Jones leading the Batman reboot?