NYCC: Producer Michael Uslan Batdances Around Future Of Franchise

With the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, fans have been wondering what the future holds in store for Batman on the silver screen. And how better to answer those questions than the producer responsible for bringing the Caped Crusader to the movies, Michael Uslan. But during his appearance at the New York Comic Con this weekend, Uslan, who shepherded the Tim Burton Batman film starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson to theaters in 1989, was very pointed about not addressing what kind of discussions were going on at Warner Brothers concerning the superhero franchise or whether the rumors that Batman‘s appearance in a possible Justice League film would be separate from where the franchise would go next.

As Uslan opened the floor to questions, he was immediately greeted with “What next?” He replied with a chuckle, “So what do you think about the Yankees? You know A-Rod’s benched tonight…”

Usland then turned more serious, stating –

We’re not ready to turn that page yet. You’ve probably all seen the media and the buzz about the Justice League movie percolating and news like that. I’ll tell you something and this is nothing to do with me as a producer or anything professionally related, if you want me to speak as just fanboy Michael and strictly fanboy Michael, how cool would it be to one day to see Batman Beyond. With Clint Eastwood playing Bruce Wayne in his 80s!

Another fanboy dream – What actors are the right age now for Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns? How do you show a Batman in his late 50s coming out of retirement bitter, for one last battle to the death with the Joker, until I realize, that’s interesting, Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson are now about the right age!

This is just the fanboy talking. It has nothing to do with the real world.

But even the fanboy excuse wasn’t big enough for Uslan to hide behind when asked, if as a fanboy he liked the idea of a cohesive cinematic superhero universe similar to how Marvel Studios has been producing their films or if he preferred to see future Batman films remain separate from the in development Justice League film.

I don’t want to go there. I think that Marvel has done an absolutely great job with [their films]. I am a huge fan of Iron Man 1 in particular. I really love that movie.

Is there anything that we can read into that statement? It seems to me that this confirms that there is definitely some internal discussions going on as to whether the Batman franchise will be linked or not with the Justice League film. And given Uslan’s reluctance to engage in even fanboy speculation it sounds as if he is very much a part of that conversation and that it is far from over.