The guys over at Latino-Review have decided to spend this fine evening dropping an atomic-bomb-level rumor that will send fanboys into a tizzy. The site is reporting three major developments when it comes to Justice League and Warner Bros. trying to figure out how they’re going to combat Disney’s one-two franchise punch of Marvel and Star Wars. So far, Warners has been struggling with their superheroes. They’re all out of Batman, and while there’s some very early positive buzz on Man of Steel, their highly-anticipated Justice League movie reportedly had to go back to square one early last month when Will Beale‘s script was tossed out.

But Warner Bros. isn’t giving up, and according to Latino-Review, Christopher Nolan is coming to the rescue. And so is Zack Snyder. And they want Christian Bale to put the cape and cowl back on. Hit the jump for more.

In a video report, Latino-Review’s El Mayimbe says,

“Christopher Nolan has completely taken over the DCU at Warner Bros. Anything having to do with these super heroes, goes through him now.”

Rule #1: No smiling.

Rule #2: When in doubt, use gritty realism because comic books are for children.

I kid…slightly. Look at screenwriter David Goyer‘s recent comments on Man of Steel, which was produced by Nolan, and it seems like they’re taking two super heroes at opposite ends of the personality spectrum, and going with the exact same approach.

Speaking of Man of Steel, Snyder could be making himself an integral part of the process as well:

“So like with Man of Steel, [Nolan’s] going to be involved with godfathering/producing while Zack Snyder will be co-producing and will possibly be the director.”

Assuming this is true, then Warner Bros. must have a tremendous amount of faith in Man of Steel or Nolan has simply said, “Snyder is my guy. Deal with it.”

Then here’s the “kicker”, according to LR:

“They’re shaping this as a vehicle for Christian Bale to reprise his role as Batman and join Henry Cavill‘s Superman in the Justice League movie.”

After the video, Latino-Review goes on to say that this may not necessarily be for Justice League, but for World’s Finest (for non-comic book readers, it means a Batman/Superman-only movie). This seems like kind of a boneheaded idea for a few reasons. First off, Nolan would have to be willing to undermine the emotional underpinning of his last Batman movie:

“Sorry, Catwoman! I know you’re really hot and we’re having a great time gallivanting around Europe especially since everyone thinks I’m dead and in no way recognizes one of the world’s wealthiest men dining in a café, but a flying gentleman just came over and asked if I would help him fight crime, so I’m going to kick Robin out of the Batcave, take back all my stuff, hope that none of the orphans sitting on top of the Batcave notice, and all will be well. Ta-ta!”

Assuming a writer can successfully find a way out of that corner (and Nolan is willing to obliterate the character arc he established), Warner Bros. probably wouldn’t want Bale for only one movie, so would he would have to be willing to sign on for a multi-picture deal. El Mayimbe points to an interview where Bale said he would consider a fourth film. Faced with the opportunity to establish a new Batman, Warner Bros. would be clingingly madly to the hope that they could get the old Batman for as long as possible, not just one more movie. To put it another way: Do you think Warner Bros. would be fine getting Bale and Cavill together for World’s Finest and then ditching Bale for Justice League?

Appraising this rumor, I think the most credible aspect is Nolan attaching himself as an overseer of DCU movies. However, it’s clearly not going to be at the level of someone like Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige whose sole job is to manage the details of the Marvel Movie Universe. Nolan’s a filmmaker. He’s already moving towards his next movie, Interstellar. When it came to Man of Steel, he helped oversee the script and the director, and then went away. Warner Bros. needs their own Kevin Feige, and while Nolan may have the name recognition, he’s not available to do all the work that’s required to make DC movies rival Marvel movies.

As for the other rumors, we’ll see. I’m hearing positive stuff on Man of Steel, and if it’s a hit, Warner Bros. will definitely want to keep Zack Snyder around for at least Man of Steel 2. And as for getting Bale back, it seems like a pipe dream, and a misguided one at that.