The TAS retro-future always appealed to me most as the world Batman most belonged in and one of the few (out of so many) cartoon and movie Batverses where I could believe Superman or the JL might show up. Whatever they do is going to be best served by not following Nolan's lead too much I think. We'll probably be waiting 5 years or so, plenty of time for them to put together another phenomenal creative team.
I know that tonally it would be all wrong, but it would be amazing if at the end of Man of Steel(post credits or whatever) Christian Bale is sitting in Clark's apartment with a "proposition" about forming a group of heroes. And while tonally and logistically it would be difficult to manage effectively it could work. The Bruce Wayne of the Nolanverse is more willing to play with others now and share his toys, he is somewhat distanced from Gotham(maybe now he cares about the whole world etc). He is in a good place to be sort of the founding father of the Justice League. Will it happen like that? Probably not, but it would be sweet if it did.
So long as Nolan remains attached to the MoS franchise as a producer, the character of Superman as represented in and by the MoS franchise will not be associated with the JLA because Nolan said that he wants no part whatsoever in anything having to do with the build-up to or creation of a shared MCU-style filmic universe, and unless Warner Bros. and DC plans on waiting until they've officially finished with the MoS franchise in its entirety, the only way they'll be able to use the Henry Cavill Superman in a JLA film or associate him with such a film will be if Nolan stops his association with the MoS franchise as a producer. Simple answer? Money and the ability to market a new series of Batman solo films set in the Nolanverse as being set in the Nolanverse. Being able to piggyback a new series of Batman solo films off of the success of Nolan's trilogy by touting that the new films are set in that same universe would be very helpful in generating marketing for said new set of films, which would lead to more money.
I wasn't sure if it's confirmed Nolan would be around for the sequels, honestly. I really think that's overstating the relevance of the universe as universe. Christian Bale as Batman, Heath Ledger as Joker, Christopher Nolan directed, sure, all those things matter. But a brand new Batman who is however also still in continuity with the older Batman? Less so. In this case the bankable property is the new Batman - like the new Spider-Man. The 'Nolanverse' is defined as Nolan's specific take, and his beginning-middle-end, on the Batman mythos. I don't think a new Batman movie would do better just because it says it's set in the same universe.
Loved the Nolan movies but am ready for something different. I'd like to see a Batman franchise that takes itself seriously enough in tone but has a place for heroics. A costume that isn't completely body armor, villains like Clayface, the Lazerous pit, killer Croc, basically the tone of the 90s animated series or something that's truer to the tone of the comics.
I loved the Nolan Batfilms and consider them to be the definitive versions of the character, as far as live action Batman films goes. (Batman: The Animated Series is the definitive version of Batman pretty much overall). But I really would like to see some of the more fantastical Bat-villains show up in a new Batman film. The kind of baddies from the rogues' gallery who Nolan thought were too 'out there' for his films, like Clayface, Manbat and even the Penguin (who could have been done realistically even in a Nolan Batman film, IMO). Having finally gotten the Batman films I've always wanted, thanks to Nolan, I'm now open to any new interpetation of the Dark Knight, just so long as they don't go overboard with the camp (such as in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin). Sean
Of course you could - you just do a story about her before she met Bruce Wayne. Plainly she has a good deal of history prior to the start of the story. With all the buzz around Hathaway's Catwoman, I wouldn't count it out.
I definitely want to see the next Batman being an unstoppable bad ass at the top of his game. And a brilliant detective. Did they ever do the bit in the Nolan movies where somebody tries to attack him from behind and he backhands them without even looking?
Anne Hathaway Would Make a Catwoman Spin-off, but Do We Want One? And check out Warped9's thread here.
I say wait a few years and reboot the entire series like they did with Spiderman. Maybe make it more like Batman:Beyond.
Though I wouldn't mind seeing a continuation of the Nolan films with a certain character (the identity of which I will not reveal), I'm also cool with someone doing something different with Batman. I would like to see the more fantastical villains get some screen time too like Killer Croc, Man Bat, Mr. Freeze (much better done than B&R), Clayface, etc. But if the Nolan films continued, they could easily do so with a lot of the 'realistic' villains still left over like Riddler, Penguin, Black Mask, Rupert Thorne, Maxie Zeus, Mr. Zsasz, Jim Gordon Jr., and Deadshot. There's also groups like the Black Glove or the Court of Owls.