Film: Newswire: Today in Star Wars rumors: Actually, Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg might be doing Star Wars spinoffs instead

Those recent reports that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg had been approached to draft Episodes 8 and 9 seemed to provide some semblance of straightforward closure to at least one aspect of the increasingly muddled Star Wars rumor mill, and therefore they must be destroyed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it seems that Kasdan and Kinberg have been hired to work on the Star Wars franchise, but not necessarily on the next two official chapters. Rather, they might instead be focusing on "spinoffs" separate from the next trilogy akin to the individual character films in the Marvel universe, and certainly not akin to Ewoks: The Battle For Endor, because ha ha, that film doesn't exist. You only dreamed it. Wilford Brimley and Ewoks? That makes no sense. 

Anyway, like all Star Wars reports, none of this has been officially confirmed by Disney or Lucasfilm, but we're reporting it regardless, as we are suckers and so are you. But given that Kasdan's work on Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi specialized in dialogue-driven moments, such as the bickering between Han Solo and Princess Leia, we're nevertheless eagerly await his searing drama exploring the dissolution of their marriage, Who's Afraid Of The Bounty Hunter In Ord Mantell? 

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Film: Newswire: UPDATE: It's already time for the "Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Justice League" rumors to begin, and then be denied

Since it was first announced, Warner Bros.' Justice League has spurred a lot of questions, such as: How will it connect—if at all—with Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, given that they are the studio's only successful movies set in DC Comics universe? Will Justice League attempt to bring in Man Of Steel's version of Superman, as director Zack Snyder seemed to be hinting at (reluctantly and cryptically) in this recent interview, and does Christopher Nolan's involvement as a producer on Man Of Steel suggest he may be more engaged in shaping the future of DC movies than he'll publicly admit? And how soon can we begin speculating that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be in this thing?

Naturally, answers to nearly all of those questions remain up in the air, but as to that last one, HitFix says the answer is "right now, and fervently." It now insists that it hears from sources close to the film that Gordon-Levitt is "absolutely" involved in Justice League, taking up the mantle of Batman that [SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, DESPITE OSTENSIBLY BEING INVESTED IN COMIC-BOOK MOVIES ENOUGH TO READ AN ARTICLE ABOUT THIS] Gordon-Levitt's character seemed poised to inherit at the end of Nolan's last film.

In fact, despite Gordon-Levitt himself saying that he didn't "necessarily" see that ending as a set-up for a sequel or spinoff, and the general sense from Nolan that he'd prefer his films to remain self-contained, and the early word from Warner Bros. that they intended to totally reinvent Batman from here, and the fact that sugarcane is one of the main exports of Paraguay, HitFix says deals are currently "solidifying" for Gordon-Levitt and "at least one other actor from the Nolan films"—and since everyone's just wildly speculating today, we'll go ahead and guess it's everyone's favorite sage, elderly black man, Anne Hathaway.

If HitFix's report proves to be true, you might not have to wait until 2015 to find out, which will be a relief: It also hints at the possibility, egged on by Snyder's very vague suggestion that his film will set the course for the Justice League film, that Man Of Steel will put things in motion by having Henry Cavill's Superman meet with Joseph Gordon-Levitt's new Batman—potentially in a post-credits sequence, since Warner Bros. is attempting to ape Marvel's strategy here anyway. Of course, Man Of Steel doesn't debut until June, so you still have plenty of months for even more rhetorical questioning and rumormongering like this. For instance, here's one: Maybe it will actually be Ryan Reynolds reprising his role as Green Lantern for Man Of Steel? Not in the actual film, of course, but when he goes to the theater, like he does sometimes.  

UPDATE: As every Batman-related rumor must be, Entertainment Weekly has declared HitFix's report "entirely false," according to one of Gordon-Levitt's representatives. Notice, however, that they did not deny that he will be playing The Riddler. 

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