Less then 10 years after Tim Burton brought The Dark Knight to the big screen in 1989's Batman, the franchise was essentially killed off by the 1997 critical and commercial disaster Batman & Robin. It lay dormant until Christopher Nolan breathed new life into the popular character with his hugely successful Dark Knight trilogy. Joel Schumacher directed both the 1995 hit Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, and he was slated to make a third film entitled Batman: Triumphant, which was written by Mark Protosevich. But it was killed after Batman & Robin tanked. Today, Bleeding Cool reports that Joel Schumacher is revisiting the Batman franchise with a 12-issue comic book that outlines his original vision for all three films, including the one that never saw the light of day.

Joel Schumacher is writing the comic book himself, re-working the stories laid out in Batman Forever, Batman & Robin and the unmade Batman: Triumphant as one singular story. Dustin Nguyen is providing the artwork for the comic, although it isn't known if the comic is already set up at a publisher, or when it may debut.

Here's a plot rundown for Batman: Triumphant from Batman Wikia.

"The Joker would return as a hallucination in Batman's mind caused by the Scarecrow's fear toxin. Harley Quinn appeared as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter trying to get revenge on Batman for the Joker's death."

Joel Schumacher recently spoke about the failed Batman & Robin with Variety, where he revealed that he had planned to bring Batman Forever star Val Kilmer back as the Dark Knight, before he dropped out at the last minute.

"Val left at eleventh hour to do The Island of Dr. Moreau. It changed everything. George (Clooney) made a noble effort. I was the problem with Batman & Robin. I never did a sequel to any of my movies, and sequels are only made for one reason: to make more money and sell more toys. I did my job. But I never got my ass in the seat right. They immediately wanted a sequel, but I said yes. There's nobody else to blame but me. I could have said, 'No, I'm not going to do it.' I just hope whenever I see a list of the worst movies ever made, we're not on it. I didn't do a good job. George did. Chris (O'Donnell) did. Uma (Thurman) is brilliant in it. Arnold (Schwarzenegger) is Arnold."

Bleeding Cool reports that there will likely be an official announcement once all the scripts are written, but it isn't clear when that may be.

Are you looking forward to seeing Joel Schumacher's true vision for the Batman movies, in comic book form? Or is Batman & Robin too painful a memory to revisit? Chime in with your thoughts below.