The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan has been a busy man for a while. He’s pumped out one great movie every year or so since 2005, and is now Hollywood’s hottest commodity. That is to say that he’s Warner Bros.’ biggest hired gun at the moment, as he preps his upcoming tentpole Inception for release. And it would appear as if WB is looking for Nolan to be not just the savior of their Batman franchise, but of their Superman frnachise as well.

It makes sense — this report that’s coming in from Deadline Hollywood. It has been alleged that Nolan is being asked to act in a supervisory capacity for the development of the next Superman movie. Since the release of Brian Singer’s Superman Returns in 2006 — a movie that cost the studio in the neighborhood of $270 million dollars and only drew some $390 million at the worldwide box office — Warner Bros. has been looking for an appropriate and profitable way to bring back one of their most iconic characters. Names like Mark Millar, McG, Brett Ratner and even J.J. Abrams and Kevin Smith (as screenwriters) have come into and gone out of the picture. Even Singer has been rumored to be coming back for more.

If this report holds up, this would be the first real movement we’ve seen in a long time on the franchise. And while it doesn’t mean that a movie is on its way, it means that Warner Bros. is actively trying to make something happen. It also means that their heads are in the right place. This all comes on the coattails of the new formation of DC Entertainment, and the restructuring of Warners’ plan for their DC Comics properties led by Diane Nelson. There is also the legal rights aspect to the entire deal — if WB doesn’t make another Superman film by 2013, they lose the copyright. Therefore, they need to be moving on something soon. It would appear, at least for now, that step one is in place.

More business-related details exist over at Deadline Hollywood. Nikki Fink and Mike Fleming also take a moment to reinforce yesterday’s Batman 3 story, saying that Nolan is also getting that ready (See: Batman 3 Script Assumed to Be in the Works). For now though, there isn’t much else to say. I will leave the determination of whether this is a good idea or not up to you (though I think I know where this is going). Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

We must ask ourselves this, though: If Christopher Nolan is involved in both movies, might we see some Batman/Superman cross-over?