Morgan Freeman sat down with MTV and told them that there is no way Chris Nolan would walk away from the Batman series. Saying, "I know-I just know-that Chris is working on number three," Morgan Freeman told MTV News. "He couldn't possibly not be."

So who does Freeman dream of as the next Nolan villain, Catwoman. So do we Morgan, so do we.

In other Dark Knight news check out this hilarious plot hole song that points out the few problems and questions many folks had with the beloved film.

This is just my own personal list of what I'm thankful for — feel free to add your own things you're thankful for in the comments.

1. That maybe, just maybe, movie audiences are developing some good taste.

I know, I know. Transformers: The Revenge of the Fallen made about $833 million. And New Moon just had the third biggest opening weekend ever. Not exactly strong arguments for the intellect of the filmgoing public. But even so, both of them still came up short when compared to The Dark Knight, which set all manner of non-Titanic box office records. And for all the financial success of Transformers 2 and New Moon, I think there's a solid argument to be made that neither really compares to the cultural impact of The Dark Knight.

The Twilight franchise has its extremely devoted fanbase, but almost no crossover appeal. To be sure, tons of people saw Revenge of the Fallen, but how many people now remember doing so? The Dark Knight, on the other hand, launched a ton of memes, established the definitive version of the Joker for years to come, and won a ton of awards, assuming you care about that stuff. (I don't particularly, but evidence is evidence.)

And let's look at all the movies that aren't sequels. District 9 made $200 million on a $30 million budget thanks to a clever viral marketing campaign, strong word of mouth, and the fact that it was actually a good movie. All the standard industry reasons to assume a movie like District 9 wouldn't make money — it's too political, it's too violent, it's too South African — turned out to be completely wrong, and I'm just going to be a ridiculous optimist and assume that the quality of the movie was the reason for its success.

Finally, there's Star Trek. If anything, the fact that it was the eleventh movie in the franchise just meant it had more baggage to overcome, and yet it was the first bona fide hit of the summer, making $384 million. The fact that it did all that while gleefully reveling in the very same continuity that had sunk so many previous revival attempts, all because the movie was just so damn fun... well, yeah, I'm pretty thankful for that.

2. That Dollhouse somehow, against all odds, got a second season.

Sure, it's a shame that Dollhouse is coming to a close, but that show had no business making it past season one. Hell, it probably should have, by rights, been canceled about six episodes in. The show wasted its first five episodes on variations on the personality-of-the-week theme before launching into the master plot — admittedly because of network interference, but still — and then proceeded to unfold its convoluted, off-putting mythology that left the show without a clear central hero and a whole lot of really uneasy questions the audience had to answer. And it did all this while comfortably settling into #132 in the ratings, bringing in a paltry 3.73 million viewers per episode.

And then, thanks to favorable internet numbers, some decent critical buzz, and maybe some lingering Fox guilt about the fate of Firefly (nah), it got a second season, and Joss Whedon went full tilt at making it the craziest, most nerderiffic show ever. I mean, look at all the guest stars. Jamie Bamber! Michael Hogan! Alexis Denisof! Keith Carradine! Summer Glau! Ray Wise! More Alan Tudyk and Felicia Day! Not to mention the fact that the show is, if anything, even better, crazier, and more gleefully off-putting than last season. Dollhouse might be going out, but under the circumstances, you can't really say it isn't going out on its own terms.

3. That Doctor Who and Futurama are coming back, and everything will be (never) the same again.

It's a been a long year, with so little new Doctor Who to get excited/thrilled/confused/conflicted about. But now "The End of Time" is coming to close out David Tennant and Russell T. Davies's tenures with the show, and it clearly promises to be the most bonkers thing ever made. And then the Steven Moffat and Matt Smith era officially begins, and I really can't wait.

I got into Doctor Who in 2003, back when the show was still very much in the wilderness and the closest thing to new Who were a bunch of audios starring Paul McGann. (Sure, they were pretty good, but they were also pretty far from the real thing.) As such, I'm probably one of the very last people who can even somewhat legitimately call themselves "old school" fans of Doctor Who, and though I can't exactly claim a long memory of the time before the series returned, I remember just enough to be eternally thankful that the show is simply back at all.

Meanwhile, Futurama is finally completing its long road back. It's survived one cancellation, come back for four direct-to-DVD movies, at least two of which were pretty good, gotten picked up by Comedy Central, and muddled through one hell of a tense negotiation with the voice actors. A decade after it began, this show has even less business than Dollhouse still being on the air. Yet...here it is. With lots more crazy stories coming! And the original cast back! And maybe a decent budget to work with! Honestly, at this point, it's all gravy anyway.

4. That this happened.

Nothing like a little Nathan Fillion fan service to put a smile on my face. And hey, Castle isn't exactly bad! (It's not exactly good either, but that's besides the point.) I'd still gladly trade every show I've loved for the past seven years just for another season of Firefly, though. Yes, that includes you, Battlestar Galactica!

5. Starcraft II is coming.

So what if it's "just" a computer game? I'd happily argue Starcraft is at least one of the five best works of science fiction in the last twenty years. At least. And now it's got a sequel coming? I can barely contain my excitement, and it's still months away. I mean, just look at this:

You know, I'm going to really miss my productivity. But I'm thankful it'll be put to such an important use - helping the Terrans defeat the Zerg! (And then, once that is completed, helping the Zerg defeat the Terrans!)

6. That, no matter what Roland Emmerich does to them, I'll still have all my Foundation books.

You know, in a world of seemingly endless unnecessary adaptation and pointless remakes, this is probably a very useful thing to keep in mind.

MTV sat down with Michael Caine and asked him what happened to the Philip Seymour Hoffman and Johnny Depp rumors that he'd helped start a while back. Sadly, Caine filled us all in that not only did he get in trouble but there's "nobody, there's no script there's nothing." And we most likely have a long wait ahead of us with Inception being Nolan's number one priority right now. But most importantly,

"Johnny Depp is great in anything, but there is no Johnny Depp in this Batman," he smiled. "They tell me in no uncertain terms."

Here's the full video interview...

[ MTV and Picture via Joy Hog}

Batman-on-Film is quoting its Batman film source — who is often spot-on about these things — claiming Nolan is ready to part with the WB on the next Batman movie, and there isn't much we can do about it, other than maybe threaten to blow up some hospitals.

"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."

They're also saying that the loss not only impacted the director emotionally, but it also completely changed the story for the third film, which was set to feature the Joker heavily. The film now stands devoid of a main villain, and the writers [Goyer and Jonathan Nolan] are at "square one."

I hope they can get it together. Nolan did so much for the bat, I want to see him finish it out strong and as he always envisioned. He hasn't steered us wrong yet.

According to the Associated Press, Army Spc. Christopher Lanum had allegedly stabbed a fellow soldier at Fort Eustis, Virginia.

According to the FBI affidavit filed in federal court in Montowski's case, Lanum was dressed in The Joker outfit at the time of an argument early Sunday with his Fort Eustis suite mate, Spc. Mitchell Stone. Montowski told the FBI that Lanum idolized the character.

After stabbing and using a stun gun on Stone, Lanum and his girlfriend fled the scene in a mini van, and were pursued by police. When he refused to drop his shot gun and fired, the van went under fire by police. Stone survived.

This saddens me to no end. I beg anyone out there who needs help or starts relating to the incredibly troubled character, the Joker, in a serious manner to seek help immediately.

According to "industry gossip" (which means: lots and lots of papers got excited about something they read, but can't remember where), Bale may be damaged goods after his on-tape melt down. This is the passage that everyone is quoting:

Industry gossip now suggests the rising Australian star could score the part of Batman in the third installment of the successful prequel franchise.

That could mean replacing Bale, his Terminator co-star and The Dark Knight lead, whose profile was damaged after his infamous "me, me, me" meltdown on the Terminator set, which recently hit the internet.

We scanned for the original source reporting and the closest we could get is News.com.au, who doesn't quote a source and doesn't have original reporting, so it sounds like they're just band-wagoning from somewhere else. So if you actually see where this lunacy was reported please point it out, but my guess it's pure rumor-mongering.

Forget the fact that Bale already has a contract with the WB for the next Batman, this rumor is absolutely absurd. I don't care if Bale was caught on camera lighting kittens on fire wrapped in an American flag, this man is still pretty untouchable. How's that? Because he made Warner Brothers a bazillion dollars playing Batman. Do you really think the WB would risk losing Dark Knight money over a silly tape that will be ancient history in a year or two?

You heard what it was like on set with the man - they let him do whatever the hell he wants, because he's Christian Bale. You think anyone would be originally this excited about Terminator Salvation, if Bale's name wasn't first attached to it? McG even admitted he rewrote the entire script just to get Bale to sign on. There is no way in hell they will take Batman away from Bale, it would be risking way too much. So just remember when you hear this out there today, it's most likely crap. In fact I'm willing to bet one robot tattoo, it's total bollocks.

Dark Knight and The Flash writer David Goyer spilled the beans to IESB that Warner Brothers is putting the brakes on the many comic book movies they decided to stack up, one after another. These times are tough, not just for you and me but for big wig studio execs too.

“A lot of the DC movies at Warner Bros. are all on hold...They’re going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause on at the moment.”

Goyer is especially hard hit by the decision, since his scripts for The Flash, the Green Arrow Super Max prison movie and a Dark Knight sequel will all most likely get pushed back.

Hearing about Hollywood showing restraint is not only deeply disturbing but troubling. How long will these projects be pushed back? Does this mean movies will get the proper time they need, and Jon Favreau can finally get the time he's been begging for on Iron Man 2? Does this also mean that people will start taking their time with big superhero action films, Chris Nolan style, and make something we can all be proud of? Goodness I hope so. It's good to see the studios acknowledging the gold mine they're sitting on.

Even though there have been many denials about Philip Seymour Hoffman's involvement on the project, not to mention it's too soon to even get the casting ball rolling. that won't stop people from photo shopping his noggin into a penguin-esque figure. Or is it actually a real studio image?

Cinema Blend claims a source contacted them saying this picture was in fact an authentic studio make up test (just to see if the look fits). They — and we — highly doubt its authenticity, but still he fits the look that has been done before.

But let's talk about this "look." Is it too penguiny? It certainly looks a hell of a lot like Tim Burton and Danny Devito's Penguin creation. But how can you revamp such a comic book looking character? I'm all aboard the PSH penguin train, much more so than the Cher for Catwoman or Eddie Murphy Riddler nonsense that's been going around.

But if we could get Rachel Weisz as Catwoman and Hoffman as Penguin going, this could be a killer movie.

In other interesting Bat-news Zach Snyder (director of Watchmen hopefully releasing in March) is also down with the masked bat. In an interview with IF Magazine, Snyder opened up about his dream to remake Frank Miller's 80s graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns. And you know what, I wouldn't mind seeing a few Robin's die to make this flick.

Snyder revealed that while The Dark Knight Returns is his favorite comic book, he's aware that he has to wait in the long franchise line before he can get a crack at a middle-aged Batman

"The studio has this massive franchise, and I don't think they'll let me make a Batman movie where he's 50 years old and Ronald Reagan is president.

I traversed the city, poking my head in each store looking for what might be gone and what's probably still in stock for you last-minute shoppers. Now, just because some stocks were dwindling in my town doesn't mean it's lights out for Watchmen across the nation. But just in case we've got a list of back-ups so you don't show up to the holiday festivities empty handed. Sorry — there are only so many times you can use the "I bought you Netflix" line, when you simply showed up with nothing.

Video Games:

Sold Out: Gears Of War 2
Instead: First off, ask the clerk. I ran into three lying liar faces that had more copies stashed in the back room. "What you see is what we got" need not apply to most video games, as they churn out these discs like heroin. But should you run into this predicament, there are more video games out there, trust me.
Instead: Try Fallout 3 or Dead Space. Both should be in ample supply.

Sold Out: Wii or Wii Fit. Yearning to try the workout of the future? Too bad. They are sold out — all of them. You will get laughed at to your face by some 16-year-old on winter break. (I did.)
Instead: Flip Camera. Sure, it's not a Wii, but really what is? And at least they'll be ready when the Cloverfield Monster strikes their town. They're reasonably priced (a little over $100) and can hold a lot more video than most of the cell phones out there.

Movies:

Sold Out: Hancock, because apparently a lot of people liked this movie.
Instead: There are two other infinitely better bad good movies that had loads upon loads in stock. I suggest Death Race or Doomsday. They're both action packed and terrible in a good way, and NO WILL SMITH.

Sold Out: WALL-E. I actually found a few here and there shoved in the wrong spots, so keep a keen eye out. Plus, the Blu-ray had a few left over.
Instead: So you can't watch the new awesome robot from Disney? Well, what about the old awesome robots, gadgets and space creatures? Teach others about the great scifi kid movies of our past. Flight of the Navigator, Honey I Shrunk The Kids and Black Hole are all on sale at Best Buy for $5.99. If that doesn't work, go with Enchanted, but seriously if your child/friend/sig. other doesn't like one of those first three, you need to sit them down and have a long holiday talk.

Sold Out: Dark Knight. This is hard to replace, I admit, but there are other big releases that should tempt some scifi fans.
Instead: Wanted and the new X Files were in stock but personally if I couldn't have Batman for Christmas a close second would be Bill Murray. There is a Ghostbusters box set with both movies for a mere $15.

Sold Out: Futurama's Bender's Big Score (the best of the Futurama DVD movies)
Instead: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume 4

Books And Comics And Things:

Sold Out: Twilight Book Set
Instead: Teach your Twilight fan about the other work of Stephenie Meyer, The Host. Or go really crazy and pick up the other vampire series, from Charlaine Harris: the Sookie Stackhouse books, which are now HBO's True Blood series. But be careful, these Twilighters are a fickle breed.

Sold Out: Watchmen.
Instead: Y The Last Man in hardcover, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the Joker hardcover. Our intrepid comics reporter Graeme McMillan has put together a fantastic collection of 10 great graphic novel gifts that would also make a fantastic gifts, if the Watchmen you're looking for is no longer about.

Sold Out: Neal Stephenson's Anathem
Instead: Sly Mongoose by Tobias Buckell, or Karen Traviss' Clone Wars. Need more to go on? Jot down a few of these book gems from Annalee's bookish gift guide.

Sold Out: World War Z by Max Brooks
Instead: Easy — Max Brooks' Zombie Survival Guide.

Quick Gifts:

Box sets, I'm telling you this is the way to go. Don't get a mere chapter of a series, get the entire collection. The ones that caught my eye was a $10 DVD of BOTH Never Ending Story movies, the Resident Evil Trilogy, and possibly the most amazing thing I've ever seen the Alien Predator Pack, an 8 disc set of every single Alien, Predator and the two AVPs for $55.

But should you have more questions, you can always consult the Ultimate Scifi Gift Guide.

The tabloid UK paper The Sun (no doubt ears perking from the recent Rachel Weisz Catwoman rumors) is reporting that Eddie Murphy has been cast — mind you, CAST — as The Riddler in the sequel to Dark Knight according to one insider.

Also the paper says Shia LaBeouf has been cast as Robin. Forget the fact that Christian Bale has announced he would rather do Newsies 2 than share the screen with Dick Grayson, but hey — why not?

According to The Sun:

A film insider said: “Chris wasn’t sure if he wanted to do another movie but as soon as he decided to, he got the wheels in motion. "Eddie’s a fantastic addition. Everyone’s excited to see what he does as the Riddler.”

Forget, also, the fact that the script hasn't been written and that rumors have been running wild for months now. There is just no way that Murphy is cast in the movie. How do these rumors take flight? Don't forget, not long ago people were seriously debating whether Cher was going to play Catwoman. I'm still hoping to start a rumor that Liza Minelli is playing the Penguin — pass it along!

[The Sun]

Writing for Variety's Oscar blog, Gabler argues that both movies have deeper intellectual underpinnings than you may expect, making both potential Academy Award-fodder:

"The Dark Knight" functions like a shell game. It sets up an idea and encourages viewers to accept it, only to then pick up the shell and reveal that the audience has been bamboozled... In the end, it isn't order or anomie, but human goodness that prevails. Batman's only purpose is to guard against the aberrations. [In contrast,] the symbolism of the "Iron Man" is unmistakable. Power must be tempered by humanity, in this case literally placing the man inside the weapon. More, the weapon is almost literally powered by Stark's heart, which is attached to a tiny atomic reactor. It is the human dimensions of Stark, even his fallibility, that make him heroic.

No one would claim that this is an earthshaking epiphany. Still, it raises the film above the typical cathartic muscle-flexing, and it adds an ironic edge to the genre. Whether that will be enough to get it Oscar attention remains to be seen, but "Iron Man," like "The Dark Knight," is at least on the voters' radar, which is no small achievement. Ideas can do that for you, even when they are packaged in a comicbook extravaganza.

As someone who thought that Dark Knight was too weighed down with its need to make a grand statement, I'm unsurprised to see it being mentioned here, but Iron Man's appearance is a welcome surprise (even if I'd be very surprised to see it get nominated for anything other than visual effects and potentially a nod for Robert Downey Jr.); has Dark Knight flipped critics' wigs so much that they're re-evaluating popcorn movies for hidden meaning?

Image by Aaron Williams.

Comicbook films address serious issues [Variety]

According to E!'s Ted Casablanca's column (so take it with a pillar of salt) the gorgeous, classic Hollywood brunette Rachel Weisz is being considered for the role of Catwoman in the next Batman movie. Warners would not comment either way. But if you're out there Warners, please make this happen.

Weisz could pull off the crazy and the subtlety that is Catwoman, plus she would look amazing in catlike garb (see above).

I know it's too good to be true, there's no way in hell. But honestly this is one million times better than Cher, so at least they're stepped up in the rumor mill.

[The Awful Truth]

Batman Gotham Knights: Six animated adventures reveal the further adventures of Bruce Wayne. Batman battles Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and Deadshot, and uses high-tech weapons and ancient techniques to defend Gotham City. The two-disc collector's edition is available for $19.99 from Amazon.

LEGO Batman: Explore LEGO Gotham City as minifig Batman and Robin, capturing Batman's foes and putting them in Arkham Asylum. Then play as the villains, committing crime and mayhem while dodging the dynamic duo. Available for Playstation 2 and 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS.

Batman: The Complete Animated Series: The complete boxed set of what many people consider the definitive representation of the caped crusader includes all 109 episodes of the animated series, commentaries on 12 episodes, eight featurettes, and a new documentary on Batman's animated evolution. $75.99 from Amazon.

Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan: A Japanese publisher acquired the rights to the Batman character and for a year, published a Japanese version of Batman and Robin's adventures. Translated and collected for the first time here, the comics show a Batman influenced by the culture of 1960s Japan. $37.80 from Amazon.

The gloom and doom begins with the titular baddie—wearing Ledger’s thickly scarred, elongated smirk—inexplicably released from Arkham Asylum. He stomps his way through the wrought-iron gates before flipping the city the bird. We spot a recidivist! Since it’s no fun being privy to the protagonist’s unpredictable, sinister thoughts, we’re instead saddled with Johnny Frost, a taciturn career criminal/Joker groupie who acts as our uncharismatic narrator. His arc is a sincere, if obvious, one—wrestling with his conscience in the face of escalating carnage—presumably making him an unwitting foil to his boss who steals the spotlight handily. The Joker, you see, shrugs off his post-prison ennui by instigating a bloody turf-war involving a rogue’s gallery of Gotham villains: among them The Penguin, The Riddler, and Two-Face. His goal, of course, isn’t lucre, but rather, power.

Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo make a few half-hearted attempts at psychoanalyzing their merciless muse—a prison story here, a fleeting expression of vulnerability there—to no end. Perhaps this is for the best: Few deep interpretations, if any, rival Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s Batman: The Killing Joke. And after all, what made Ledger’s portrayal of the felon so transformative was the utter disregard for his motivation, punctuated by the Joker’s cheeky, bathetic explanations for his facial scars. In contrast, this graphic novel suffers a bit from the singularity of its central character. Where Ledger (and his script) imbued the Joker with a searing mix of wit and fiendishness, Azzarello makes him a ghoul who rattles off a few puns about Two-Face’s unfortunate cutaeous condition. Bermejo’s illustrations, meanwhile, dither curiously between nicely crinkled, craggled renderings and the occasional richly painted panel—for no discernable reason.

Where is Batman during all of this? Intriguingly, the man in black is intimated but not really name-checked; that leaves The Joker as our mercurial anti-hero. Azzarello’s clever set-up would work, but for the almost-categoric unlikeability of this brutish evildoer, which isn't helped by the lack of insight into the politics of the underworld. Here, the baddies simply hunt and spar prodigiously, quaking in their boots as the marquee star shows off his knack for setting-off explosions. When all is done, it's hard to take this Joker, which feels more like a dazzling spree than a gripping story, too seriously.

The book hits stores Oct. 29.

Image courtesy of DC Comics

Darq Knight: The Musical was written by Yale students Marshall Pailet and James Pollack with help from Tessa Williams, and Emma Barash. The plot follows the Dark Knight but strays to make jokes about the sexual tension felt by Alfred for Bruce and breaks for "With or Without You” anthems.

Just so you understand how truly hilarious this show must have been here is a "director's note" from the playbill:

“Darq Knight: The Musical” was once upon a time the brain lovechild of a midsummer coffee date between myself and Bono, and has quickly become the most important and influential work of our time. We feel the original Dark Knight text superimposed upon the insightful work of modern musical genius that is the epic 80’s rock cannon will not only entertain the masses, but also begin a dialogue on important and profound issues such as slavery, government, medicare, and of course the existence of God. And inform. Text.

The show ran last week at a local theater and let's hope that this press will convince them turn the bat light onto the stage one more time.

For more pictures check out the round up at Ivy Gate Blog.

Thanks Dan.

Kota:
Meet Kota the Triceratops Robot. Large enough for a small toddler to sit upon (and spring loaded for your bouncing pleasure). It wag its tail, sings songs, and will purr if you scratch it under it the chin. Kota is a mere $300, but can you really put a price on robo-dino love?

Clone Wars:
ZOMG this is an amazing Attack of the Clone Wars stromtrooper helmet. It totally mimics the Thunderbirds look that Lucas and friends were going for with the series. Ok so it's 429 credits but you'll be the most cutting edge stormtrooper at the McDonalds. There are only 1,000 made so hurry, hurry.

Buck Rogers:
The Buck Rogers incredibly lifelike figurine is here to slay the baddies and save the space ladies. He comes with his own jet pack and and clear bubble space helmet. Buck is $175 and available at sideshow toy.
http://www.robotsrule.com/html/kota-triceratops.php

One small bit of bad news tho folks it looks like the Cloverfield monster has been discontinued. Alas it may be years until we get to see Clovey in the figurine flesh.

Harvey Dent:
Hello, super creepy pretty damn life like Dent figure. This 12 inch white knight can change from pre-burned Dent to horribly scared scab face with a mere switch of the heads. Scab scratching revolver included! No details on price yet.

[Robots Rule, Side Show Toy, Action Figure]