Christopher Nolan has dealt a huge blow to the future of big budget superhero movies after first confirming that The Dark Knight Rises will be the last of his Batman movies, and secondly, rejecting a producing position on a forthcoming movie about the 'Justice League' superhero clan, set for the big screen in 2015.

Nolan's Batman movies - starring Christian Bale - have achieved huge success over the past decade, whilst obscuring modest comic book flops such as 'Superman Returns', 'Watchmen', 'Jonah Mex' and 'Green Lantern'. With the domination of 'The Avengers' giving studio bosses something to smile about, top Warner executives had hoped Nolan would join the 'Justice League' project, with president Jeff Robinov telling the Los Angeles Times, "It was a conversation we had.Obviously anything you can get Chris involved in is great". In a similar concept to the 'The Avengers', the film would follow an all-star team of comic book heroes, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, the Green Lantern and Hawkgirl". However, Nolan has declined the studio's advances while also putting to bed rumours that he would produce a Warner Batman reboot. The news will come as a huge disappointment to the thousands of fans turning out at the Comic-Con in San Diego this week, though their anticipation for 'The Dark Knight Rises' should see them through.

The vast comic book library is the most obvious source of material for studios looking to make a quick buck, and executives have been buoyed by the recent success of big budget movies based on the superhuman characters. However, with Nolan out of the equation, and none of the DC movies currently in the works having a producer, director, or cast attached (apart from Man of Steel), things need to get moving, and pronto.