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Up, up and away ... or not.

Back in 2006, comic book fans were jazzed to see glimpses of the Fortress of Solitude and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor in movie trailers for "Superman Returns." But when the movie finally launched, many were disappointed by the feature they received.

Meanwhile, the Batman franchise continued to go strong and dominated not only the box office but the imagination of DC Comics fans.

So, in an attempt to capture that same spark, Warner Bros. has turned to "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan in order to renovate the ailing Man-of-Steel movie franchise. According to Deadline Hollywood, Nolan is expected to mentor the project from script to screen in order to ensure that what finally makes it to theaters will be of Batman's standards.

Does this mean actor Brandon Routh and "Superman Returns" director Bryan Singer are out? Not yet, although it is looking more and more likely. This new movie would be considered a complete reboot and in no way, shape or form will be treated as a follow-up to the 2006 adventure.

However, the pair may still have some involvement if it is in the best interest of the movie as it is unlikely that Nolan will direct if this new Superman movie goes into production.

Producer "John Peters is trying to make something happen since he stands to benefit financially," a source told Deadline Hollywood reporter Nikki Finke. "But [the studio] need[s] to hear a great story that makes sense."

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

The main push for a new Superman movie comes from legal issues Warner Bros. has surrounding the rights to the franchise, which they currently hold until 2013. If a new movie is to happen, it will have to happen soon. After 2013, the estates of the comics original creators will once again hold the full rights to the franchise and neither DC or Warner Bros. will be able to exploit the character sans a renewal.

"Superman Returns" earned an estimated $200.1 million at the box office in 2006 compared to the $205.3 million "Batman Begins" earned the year before, and the $533.3 million haul of "The Dark Knight" in 2008.

Nolan is stil said to be working on a story concept for a third Batman film, but there is no indication for when such a project would move into production, or how his involvement in Superman may delay that.

Then again, having Nolan involved in Superman could push Warner Bros. a bit closer to a "Justice League" style movie, that could compete with Marvel's proposed Avengers outing.