Christopher Nolan is unquestionably the most influential director in the film industry right now; while obviously he doesn’t yet have the resume of great directors like Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorsese, both senior filmmakers are at a more reflective point in their respective careers. There are certainly a lot of great directors out there that have been consistently doing great work for decades, but Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, and David Fincher simply don’t inspire audience fanfare in the same way that Nolan does. Nolan has the ability to create massive spectacle films that are wholly original on a budget that rival that of a superhero movie.

Nolan’s methodical rise to success has been an inspirational one, especially for younger filmmakers who are attempting to make it in the industry for the first time. It was Nolan’s micro-budget independent film Following that led to his independent masterwork Memento, which earned both him and his brother Jonathan an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. This prompted studios to take an interest in the emerging British director, and Nolan got the chance to take on a bigger project when he worked on the underrated 2002 crime thriller Insomnia alongside Robin Williams and Al Pacino. He then went on to the world of blockbusters with Batman Begins, and effectively launched the greatest superhero movie series in history.

It seems unlikely that Nolan would return to do another superhero movie after creating three masterpieces within the genre, but the recent release of Oppneheimer poses the question as to what his next project will be. Nolan rarely just sits around wasting time, so it will be fascinating to see what he will do next.

Another World War II Epic
Warner Bros.

Nolan’s 2017 film Dunkirk is one of the best of his career; rather than making a traditional military epic that did nothing but lionize the armed forces, Nolan took a more ambitious approach that examined the nature of combat over the course of three territories. By showing the heroes in the sky, on the ground, and at sea, Nolan was able to give a more well-rounded perspective of what war actually looked like than most World War II films ever have. Most war epics tend to be very long, but Nolan managed to turn Dunkirk into a tight psychological thriller that wasn’t even two hours long in length. It was the type of film that didn’t even give the audience a chance to breathe.

Interestingly, Dunkirk was the first film of Nolan’s career that was based on a true story, and he once again returned to the World War II era for his latest epic Oppenheimer, which stars Cillian Murphy as the “father” of the nuclear bomb. It’s clear that Nolan has a lot of personal interest in this era and generation, as is evident based on the incredible production details that a lot of time and research went into maintaining the historical accuracy of the sets. Nolan rarely uses computer-generated-imagery to replace what could be done practically, so viewers know that he was meticulous in making sure he had captured the essence of the 1940s.

Related: Christopher Nolan on Why the Time Was Right to Make Oppenheimer

Perhaps Nolan will take another stab at a World War II epic that still feels like new territory for him; Dunkirk and Oppenheimer are two very different stories and belong to very different genres, and there is room for Nolan to make another film in the era that doesn’t feel like it’s stepping on familiar territory.

A Different Biopic
Universal Pictures

While Nolan is often thought of as the king of original filmmaking, it’s clear that he has an interest in telling stories about real historical figures as well. Oppenheimer isn’t the first time in his career that he’s attempted to make a biopic. Nolan once tried to make a film about the life of the legendary inventor Howard Hughes, and intended to cast Jim Carrey in the titular role. While this undoubtedly would have been a fascinating project, it was one Nolan eventually decided to shelve when Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio began moving forward on the production of their Hughes biopic The Aviator.

Related: Oppenheimer Review: Christopher Nolan’s Uncompromising Vision of an Exceptional Man

A Return to Science Fiction
20th Century Fox

During promotional campaigning for Oppenheimer, Nolan refused to answer any questions about whether he would ever direct a Star Wars film, as he has frequently mentioned his love of George Lucas’ 1977 film. He even placed the sci-fi classic on his list of favorite films, so it would certainly be interesting to see if the possibility of going to the galaxy far, far away ever intrigues him. Nolan demands complete creative control for all of his films, so working within the constraints of Lucasfilm’s production process might be a challenge.

However, Nolan certainly has done a lot of great original sci-fi movies like Inception, Interstellar, and Tenet, and surely has more ideas he might be interested in exploiting. Perhaps he will end up collaborating again with his brother Jonathan, who has worked on additional sci-fi television shows like Westworld and The Peripheral.