Nolan To Pass On Batman 3?

Now before anyone freaks out about that headline keep this in mind: Yes, Nolan still has a gentleman's agreement with Warner Bros. to do the sequel to "The Dark Knight." He is currently writing the script for the third installment while he is preparing to shoot his first non-superhero film in awhile, "Inception." Part of the agreement Warner Bros. had with funding Nolan's new film is that he return for a third Batman film. Deals change though, and while I'm sure Nolan wouldn't simply pass up the third film before completing the trilogy he had in mind, just in case he does decide that he's had enough of the superhero world Warner Bros. has a backup: Zack Snyder, director of "300" and the upcoming "Watchmen" film.

This was reported by IGN who is hit or miss when it comes to these rumors, so don't start freaking out yet (or starting a petition that most likely wouldn't work anyway), this is just a rumor at the moment. It does make me wonder what a third Batman film would look like without Nolan though. Chances are the on-set locations would be replaced with green screen effects, and the villains would be even more out-of-this-world then usual. But even if this comes to pass keep in mind the silver lining: Even if Nolan doesn't direct there's a pretty solid chance his script will still be used with minor only minor changes made.