A proverbial “NOOOOOOO!” was heard around the world yesterday when Christopher Nolan, the man that took the relatively down and out franchise which was Batman and turned it into an Oscar-winning (soon to be) trilogy, confirmed that the upcoming third installment of his take on Batman– The Dark Knight Rises– would indeed be his last. This news not only elicits a major declaration of denial, but also makes me feel a little like, “Why me?!” too.

It’s just that Nolan, who directed other hits such as Memento and Inception, has truly perfected his craft with his Batman series: Batman Begins took the world by storm, with everyone asking if a Batman movie could really be that good, The Dark Knight was somehow even better (with Heath Ledger taking home the Oscar for his amazing performance as the Joker), and if the news is to be believed at all, The Dark Knight Rises should be just as good. And with a cast made up of mainstays Christain Bale, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine, along with newcomers (to the franchise) Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Liam Neeson, Anne Hatheway, and Marion Cotillard how could it not be good?!

So this all leads to the devastating news that The Dark Knight Rises will be Nolan’s last foray into the world of all things Batman. As The Playlist is reporting Nolan was asked at the Produced By Conference if he would attempt any more movies of this (Batman) kind, to which Nolan responded, “No…Mainly, because I’m superstitious, but I said to my brother that I didn’t want to save anything. We’re never on a specific trajectory, but I always viewed Bruce Wayne’s story in three parts. I didn’t want to hold anything back…I think you learn so much from the audience. You don’t know what you’ve made until you’ve put it out there.”

I mean, it’s definitely noble– you know, wanting to do the best he possibly can for the three movies he set out to do–I’ll give him that. But I still can’t selfishly help but wonder: “Why oh why did this have to happen to me?” Is it time for an internet petition?!