Deadline Hollywood has suggested that Batman Begins and The Dark Knight's Christopher Nolan may take on a "godfather" role in the revamping of the Superman franchise.

According to the website, Nolan and his team have been sounded out about coming on board in an advisory capacity. The intention appears to be to keep Superman Returns' director Bryan Singer and star Brandon Routh involved, but not make the next film a sequel to that underperforming entry in the franchise.

"We know what we don't want to do. But we don't know what we want to do," a studio source told the website. "We learned a lot from the last movie, and we want to get it right this time."

Another insider is quoted as saying: "Warner Bros. doesn't have a handle yet on it... they need to hear a great story that makes sense."

Warner Bros. are keen to get a Superman movie into production shortly, before more rights to the character revert to the estates of the Man of Steel's creators, Jerome Siegel and Joe Shuster, in 2013.