We are now merely days away from The Dark Knight Rises opening in cinemas worldwide and if youre anything like me youre filled with a sort of giddy apprehension. Although stopping short of the recent Avengers movie, The Dark Knight still made its financiers an absolute Batload with a worldwide return of over $1 billion and if the TDKR is even half as good as its trailers seem to indicate, theyre about to make a whole lot more. But after we arrive home from the theatre, after weve slept on the plot, the story, after the dust has settled, thats when itll properly hit us: this is it, the end. Nolans Batman is no more. Dont worry! If the Batman franchise can survive Joel Schumacher, it can survive Nolans departure. If it can survive Joel Schumacher, it can survive anything. With his gritty, realistic and acclaimed take on the iconic Dark Knight, Nolan really set the bar in terms of quality. Lets see someone try to put nipples on the Batsuit now! That said there are plenty of filmmakers out there who we feel could step up to fill the void; we thought the time was right to post our picks for the ten directors we feel are most up to the task. Because the mission is never over. Click "next" below to start our journey...