With Katie out of the picture Tom Cruise is free to do what he wants, and if Tom Cruise wants to be Batman then Tom Cruise (The Cruiser to his friends), gets to be Batman whether that is in a big budget production owned by Warner Bros. is another matter. OK, so Tom Cruise probably isnt going to be the next one to don the pointy-eared cowl (but not because he isnt tall enough, see Jack Reacher) but a point of interest potentially raised here, is what if the studio does decide to go with a cheesier, more cookie-cutter Dark Knight, a Zac Efron type perhaps? Talented performers for sure, but such a choice would likely cause outrage amongst the fan communities. Though back when Joel Schumacher was busy screwing around with the franchise after Tim Burtons first two efforts were fairly well received, the films had a tendency to feel more like comic books and although Batmans dark past wasnt skipped, it never felt grounded in reality as Nolans efforts perhaps do. Batman & Robin wasnt a bad film because it tried to achieve a more comic book-like tone, but because it was a badly made film (for so many reasons) and if Tom Cruise was in either of the Schumacher efforts they could have arguably been more watchable (though admittedly not good) films, a bit of charisma goes a long way and Tom Cruise has an abundance. It would be a hugely risky and an oh-so-unlikely move for the studios to go in a lighter direction for the Batman reboot, particular with Nolan still on board as producer, but thats not to say a Cruiser-in-a-cowl type production couldnt be enjoyable fare.