Christian Bale will return as Batman opposite Henry Cavill's Superman in a Justice League movie overseen by Christopher Nolan, according to an influential US blog.
Latino Review, which has broken a number of stories surrounding the Superman and Batman franchises in the past, says Warner Bros is desperate to bring the team behind the hugely successful Dark Knight trilogy back for its planned superhero ensemble movie. By teaming Bale with Cavill, the star of this summer's heavily hyped Zack Snyder-directed Man of Steel, the studio believes it could compete with Joss Whedon's The Avengers II and JJ Abrams' Star Wars: Episode VII.
Latino Review says Nolan would oversee the film and sequels in much the same way as he was brought in to "godfather" Man of Steel. Snyder would also produce and possibly direct.
Bale and Nolan had previously said that last year's The Dark Knight Rises would be their final Batman film. However, Bale told Empire magazine last year he would consider returning for a fourth instalment if Nolan came to him with a great story.
Justice League, which Warner is preparing for release in 2015, is based on the comic book that sees Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other superheroes combining to fight Earth's enemies. Six years ago Babe director George Miller oversaw an abandoned attempt to bring the story to the big screen, unconnected to previous films in either series and with different actors playing Batman and Superman. However, Disney-owned Marvel's launch of several superhero films based on characters such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America before combining them into the $1.5bn The Avengers has changed the way studios approach the genre.
Early reports from test screenings for Man of Steel have suggested Warner could have a hit on its hands. The studio has refused to comment on Latino Review's Justice League scoop.
