EXCLUSIVE! Joseph Gordon-Levitt In Talks To Play The Riddler In Next ‘Batman!’

Director Christopher Nolan trades in the Joker for the Riddler in the next Batman movie and has pegged his ‘Inception’ star, JGL, to star!

What started off as a joke has become a reality —Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who stars in Christopher Nolan’s new film, Inception, is the director’s first pick to play The Riddler in the next installment of the Batman franchise!

“Chris really dug Joseph [as an actor],” a source close to the director tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively. “There was a joke at first between them [on the set of Inception] that Joseph wanted to read for Batman 3 and things heated up as filming continued.”

Adds the insider, “It’s not 100% confirmed that he’s getting [the role of The Riddler] but there’s certainly talk about it. Joseph is definitely on the short list.” This should make fans happy, especially as several fan sites have expressed a wish to see the 500 Days of Summer cutie score the role!

But don’t expect to find out anytime soon whether the 29-year-old actor will actually become The Riddler in reality — the script is still being written! Also don’t expect to see JGL take on his 10 Things I Hate About You co-star Heath Ledger‘s posthumous Oscar-winning role of The Joker, either — Nolan has already confirmed that he won’t be recasting that particular part. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s rep says, “This is not true.”

The working titled Batman 3 is slated for a July 2012 release, but if you can’t wait to see a Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Christopher Nolan collaboration, check out Inception when it premieres July 16.