If you expected the Batman franchise to continue for many years to come, then you'd better think again.

Director Chris Nolan believes that when "Batman 3" completes, it will bring a level of conclusion and satisfaction to the franchise, wrapping it up as its own separate trilogy with "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight," the latter which is currently the third highest-grossing film of all time.

According to an interview in The Los Angeles Times, Nolan is "very excited about the end of the film," as well as the conclusion, and what his crew has done with the characters.

"Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale were telling and it hearkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories," Nolan said.

Where is the film at just now? Well, according to Nolan, it is still in the preliminary scripting stages. Not because of any problems in its development, but because everyone wants to make sure the movie is the sendoff and payoff that fans deserve. Plus, with so much epic fanboy love for "The Dark Knight," expectations are very high indeed.

"My brother is writing a script for me and well wait to see how it turns out ... hes struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be, Nolan said.

Throughout the two movies, fans of the comics already have seen villains such as Ra's Al Ghul, Two Face, Joker and Scarecrow -- Nolan remains tight-lipped about who the next baddie to go head-to-head with the Caped Crusader might be, however it won't be Mr. Freeze.

Mr. Freeze was the villain of the critically slaughtered 1997 movie, "Batman and Robin," and was played by Arnold Schwarzenegger before he became governor of California. The movie also featured the villain Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and introduced Barbara Gordon (Alicia Silverstone) as Batgirl.

There are still plenty of villains left in the franchise to be featured, including Catwoman, who would arguably become the love of Bruce Wayne's life. Previous movies also included The Riddler and Penguin.

One thing Nolan is determined to craft before Batman enters production is the latest re-envisioning of Superman. When Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" debuted, it was hit with a mixed critical and fan reaction. Now, though, the clock is ticking for Warner Bros. to develop a new installment of the franchise before legal issues prevent them from developing any future Superman assets.

Singer's Superman very rigidly stuck with the original Richard Donner movies to the point where it could even be considered as a sequel more than a re-boot. Nolan's vision will be a completely different adventure, however, thanks to a script written by David Goyer.

"I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story Ive never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting," Nolan said.