海角大神

WARNING!!! 鈥� 聽This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for The Dark Knight Rises.听

Prior to the release of Christopher Nolan鈥檚 final Batman film, , the rumor mill was running rampant on how Joseph Gordon-Levitt鈥檚 character might fit into the superhero-villain-heroine mix created by appearances from , respectively. While there are plenty of 鈥渘ormal鈥� people in the Nolan trilogy (Commissioner Gordon and Alfred, among others) casting an up-and-comer like raised a few eyebrows and caused . Would Levitt make an appearance as an unannounced villain (such as The Riddler) or possibly a superhero sidekick (such as Robin)?

Now that the film is out, we know that Levitt鈥檚 character, John Blake is Robin in both name and character, but as usual, Nolan wasn鈥檛 going to spell anything out. Despite a lot of carefully constructed arguments from the fan community about Blake鈥檚 post-Rises adventures, Joseph Gordon-Levitt recently confirmed that the filmmakers never talked about which 鈥渟uit鈥� (Batman, Nightwing, Robin, etc) the character would wear 鈥� when, and if, he actually took over for Bruce Wayne.

After the closing reveal of The Dark Knight Rises, many moviegoers (and media members), began hammering Levitt for answers about a possible sequel featuring the John Blake character. The actor quickly dismissed talk of a follow-up 鈥� claiming that the studio had not approached him about it and that, for him, reprising the role would be .

As mentioned in an interview with , Levitt also dismissed the notion that Nolan had a particular alter-ego in mind for the character, asserting that they never talked about which 鈥渟uit鈥� the character might wear:

However, even if we never see Levitt fighting criminals on the streets of Gotham again, that doesn鈥檛 mean that fans aren鈥檛 interested in some closure about which fan-favorite Batman character he had been playing all along. Many enthusiasts argued that the reveal of the character鈥檚 first name, Robin (as in Robin John Blake), was a dead giveaway for the boy wonder (Dick Grayson); others felt as if Nightwing, despite the obvious nod to Batman鈥檚 most famous sidekick, would be a much better fit for Nolan鈥檚 universe. In the comic storylines, Robin (still Grayson) becomes Nightwing 鈥� taking on the persona as he matures. Similarly, Blake could have easily just become the new Batman 鈥� just like Grayson did (again) in the DC universe.

As we鈥檝e talked about on the , the John Blake character is mostly an amalgamation of various iterations of Bat-sidekicks, not one specific person 鈥� a point that ties into the franchise idea about becoming a symbol, rather than just a man. It鈥檚 a theme that Levitt himself discussed when talking about a possible John Blake sequel on Jimmy Kimmel Live:

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think [the ending of 'The Dark Knight Rises'] is necessarily a set-up. I think it is the great ending for that trilogy. Even if you go back to 鈥�Batman Begins,鈥� he鈥檚 talking about how Batman is more than a man, it鈥檚 a symbol, and a hero can be anybody and we all have heroes inside of us.鈥�

Levitt has shown gratitude and excitement to be part of The Dark Knight Rises experience, but doesn鈥檛 have much to say about future Batman work. Screen Rant Managing Editor, Kofi Outlaw, had a chance to sit down with Levitt this week to discuss the actor鈥檚 upcoming film聽, and Levitt flat-out denied (or at least isn鈥檛 willing to talk about) any talks with Warner Bros. about post-TDKR聽plans聽- which would include the possibility of Blake appearing in DC鈥檚 in-development聽 film.

Screen Rant:聽Have you seen the , or had any meetings with WB about being a part of their supehero universe?鈥�

Levitt: Nope. [Pauses] No 鈥� the answer鈥檚 鈥榥o.鈥�

For the time being, it鈥檚 probably best to let the subject of continuing Nolan鈥檚 Batman trilogy rest. Nolan and star 海角大神 Bale have 聽- and the legacy torchbearer, Levitt, clearly doesn鈥檛 have any new developments to report.

Of course, we鈥檒l keep you updated if something changes 鈥� since some version of Batman will need to be called into action for the Justice League movie.

Ben Kendrick blogs at Screen Rant.