No Batman 3 until 2013? They gotta be joking.

Total Film is linking to a “trusted source at Batman-on-Film” today, with troubling whispers that there might be no Nolan for Batman 3.

The death of Heath Ledger in January of 2008 rocked Mr. Nolan hard. So hard that Chris was convinced that TDK was going to be it for him and Batman on film. The Joker was going to return in BATMAN 3.

“You are correct in reporting that he is developing story ideas with [Jonathan Nolan] and David Goyer, but it will be until AT LEAST 2012 before we see the Caped Crusader back [in theaters]. And that is only an EARLY ESTIMATE at best right now. They are even saying it might not be until 2013.”

Basically, the BATMAN film franchise is back to square one. As far as a story or a BATMAN 3, “Right now, there is none,” says our guy.

A 5-year wait between sequel installments isn’t unheard of — The Last Crusade came 5 years after The Temple of Doom — but such a gap usually follows a creative falter. The loss of momentum between now and 2013 or even 2012 seems unthinkable in the acclaimed wake of Warner Brothers’ billion dollar baby.

What are the options? (A) recast the Joker? (B) recast the director? With names like Zack Snyder being bandied about, that kind of speculation feels too ridiculous to consider. But that’s not stopping people from coming up with all sorts of absurd alternative universe scenarios. CHUD.com outlines the best set of possibilities I’ve seen:

1) Nolan is smart, and knows he can never top himself, and will just serve as a producer on the next film.

2) Nolan is notoriously hard to get to commit on a project like this; with a big huge movie in his sights the last thing he wants to do is start thinking about another big huge movie.

3) Nolan knows it’s fait accompli that he’ll be back so he’s doing some contract negotiations in the press. Enough of us on the internet cover this story it gets picked up in the mainstream media, and Warner Bros suits start sweating and trying to figure out how much money they can throw at this director. God knows this wouldn’t be the first time such a tactic has been used.

yeah, I’m thinking that third thing.

Lt. James Gordon: They’ll hunt you.
Batman: You’ll hunt me. You’ll condemn me. Set the dogs on me. Because that’s what needs to happen.