I'm going to assume everyone who wanted to see The Dark Knight Rises has seen it by now, so won't be skirting around spoilers - as though the headline hadn't given everything away already. At the end of the movie, Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne goes into retirement and leaves the cowl to be taken up by Joseph Gordon Levitt's supercop John Blake, aka the uncostumed Robin. While it had been assumed the upcoming Justice League movie would undertake the difficult task of rebooting Batman (again), pesky anonymous sources have been suggesting Gordon-Levitt will continue his character's arc by becoming the first non-Bruce Wayne Bat on the big screen.

Such a move will likely incite fan ire - several Flixist editors have expressed their displeasure at the idea - but isn't far out of step with the comics. Blake is a composite of several Robins, and Dick Grayson, with whom Blake shares a past as a cop, became the new Batman after Knightfall. For my money, I thought Levitt did good work in Dark Knight Rises and can see Blake's younger, idealistic Batman being a more natural fit for a Justice League team than perpetual loner Bruce Wayne. Let's also not forget Christopher Nolan is exec producing the Zack Snyder-directed Man Of Steel, which will be Justice League's first lead-in movie.

[Addendum from your friendly neighborhood News Editor: People at Hollywood.com reached out to Gordon-Levitt's representatives, who have denied the rumor outright, declaring it totally false. There's a chance this is just elaborate subterfuge, but we'll find out eventually. Keep your salt at the ready.]

[Via HitFix and Hollywood.com]