Joss Whedon

Never let it be said that superstar writer/director/rabid fanboy Joss Whedon was the type to rest on his laurels. Clearly not content with his work on such fan-favorite franchises like “Buffy,” “Serenity” and the upcoming “Dollhouse,” Whedon regaled MTV News with the details of his proposed plan to reboot the “Batman” film franchise before Director Christopher Nolan got the gig.

“Well, I actually did pitch a ‘Batman’ film when [Warner Bros. began developing "Batman Begins"], and it wasn’t what they did but the vibe was very similar,” said Whedon. “Mine was a bit less epic. It was more about the progression of him and it was more in Gotham City. He didn’t go to Tibet and meet cool people, but it was very similar in vibe [to Nolan’s "Batman Begins"].”

After a little prodding, Whedon opened up a bit about his “Batman” idea, even going into detail about what villain he planned on using…or not using.

“In my version, there was actually a new [villain], it wasn’t one of the classics — which is probably why they didn’t use it,” he laughed. “It was more of a ‘Hannibal Lector’ type — he was somebody already in Arkham Asylum that Bruce went and sort of studied with. It was a whole thing — I get very emotional about it, I still love the story. Maybe I’ll get to do it as a comic one day [ed. note: HINT HINT, DC Comics... ].”

Despite losing out to Nolan, Whedon has no hard feelings, and gave nothing but praise to the Director Who Can Do No Wrong. “I just love the respect [Nolan has] for the character and the world,” he said. “I thought Christopher Nolan’s done an amazing job of bringing out the comic book, and I see a lot of movies [coughs “HULK”] — sorry, I had a Hulk stuck in my throat — that don’t really have the aesthetic or the pathos or really get why the comic book works.”