Batman v Superman: Zack Snyder asked Christopher Nolan whether he should make it

"You tell me if you don't want me to do it"

Zack Snyder, director of 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' (Getty)

It's emerged that Zack Snyder reached out to Christopher Nolan ahead of bringing the Caped Crusader back to the big screen in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Such was the critical and commercial success of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy that the Man of Steel director sought the maestro's permission, Empire reports.

"You tell me if you don't want me to do it,” stated Snyder.

Nolan's response? “Well, we don’t own these characters. When you’re done making Batman movies, someone else will.”

While Snyder's may seem like a statement that suggests ‘I’m only asking because I should’ and the latter has an air of ‘I’d rather you didn’t, but if you have to…’ it remains comforting to know that he has full respect for the love surrounding Nolan's trilogy which culminated in 2012 with The Dark Knight Rises.

Nolan served as co-writer and executive producer on Snyder’s first Superman film, Man of Steel (2013), and remains on board in an "advisory capacity" for the approaching superhero mashup.

In a 2014 interview with USA Today, Nolan said: “Zack’s a great friend and I know Ben [Affleck] and he’s just an extraordinary guy. I’ll be the first in line to see what they’ve done.”

In December, Nolan revealed that his next film will be WWII drama Dunkirk scheduled for release in July 2017. Despite no official announcement, Mark Rylance, Kenneth Branagh and Tom Hardy are expected to star.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is released on 25 March.