A Third Batman Film has Been Officially Announced.

[Trelau]

no 3d! that the best news of the day! And no Riddler nor Mr Freeze...i don't buy Two-Face Resurecting, so let's go back to the other possibilities...
So what do you think, Hugo Strange? Azrael/Thalia maybe? (ex league of assassin to tie in with the first movie...meh not convinced either)

[bredon7777]

Can someone confirm what Nolan ACTUALLY said? I'm hearing both "The Riddler won't be in it." AND "The Riddler won't be the main villian."  While both statements are disappointing, there's a crucial difference between the two.

That said, eliminating Riddler virtually guarantees Catwoman.

[Ajax]

Well there are three things I got out of this and from another tidbit i read off BleedingCool. The first is no riddler (yay!) Ever since Dark Knight ended for some reason every person has been convinced Riddler is the next villain. I never cared for him in the first place but the rabid conviction that he was the next one and that no other villain would be worthy irked me a bit. No 3D (double yay!). Nolan has put out a casting call for a female character 25-30. No clue as to what the character is, not even to the people going to try out for said character. So either she is a new love interest, a female super villain or both. Didn't Nolan say after the second movie he was going to stray away from villains already done in previous movies? If so that would eliminate Catwoman. I'm still holding my hope out for Talia.

[JKCarrier]

Talia would certainly make sense...an ancient conspiracy like the League of Shadows isn't likely to fall apart just because R'as died. It would be cool to see what kind of interpretation Nolan could come up with for Catwoman, though.

[BentonGrey]

I'd be happy to see R'as come back, but that wouldn't be "real" enough for these films.

[JeyNyce]

I would like to see Talia come in and try to get all of the gangs together to take out Bats, because of what happen to her father and then falls for him.  There could be a small mention that her dad is still alive.

If you think about the title of the next movie, it sounds like Bats becomes the hero again

[Midnite]

Rumored The Dark Knight Rises Female Short List

[Reepicheep]

Please, please, please not Keira Knightly.

[Mr. Hamrick]

I'm kinda against Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley.  Portman simply because she is signed on to Thor and any sequels made of Thor.  Knightley just because... actually, I'd take her over Naomi Watts anyday!  I can't particularly stand Naomi's work.

Blake Lively is signed on to Green Lantern so unless she is playing Carol Ferris in the film then NO!

I'm betting on Anne Hathaway or Rachel Weitz being one of the leads. 

That said, Tanit Phoenix, Marion Cotillard, and Piper Perabo are on the list too and were not mentioned in the article.  They were met with a few weeks ago.  I believe Marion turned it down because of scheduling issues.    Tanit Phoenix would be interesting as she is the least known name on the list.  I had to actually look her up on IMDB and she hasn't done much but she could be a great choice.

Why can't they do something sensible and put Karen Gillan or Billie Piper on the list?  Or better yet... Michelle Ryan!  LOL!

[Panther_Gunn]

I could totally see Rachel Weisz as Catwoman or Poison Ivy.  Not sure which I'd rather see her as.

And I would vote against Billie Piper, unless her character is written as having an obvious lisp or speech impediment, unless she's gotten that fixed since the last time I saw her on Dr. Who (and it didn't used to be there, either).

[Mr. Hamrick]

I could totally see Rachel Weisz as Catwoman or Poison Ivy.  Not sure which I'd rather see her as.

And I would vote against Billie Piper, unless her character is written as having an obvious lisp or speech impediment, unless she's gotten that fixed since the last time I saw her on Dr. Who (and it didn't used to be there, either).

I was being a bit facetious and a tad sarcastic with the comment about Piper, Gillan, and Ryan.  I've never noticed Piper having a lisp.

[Figure Fan]

I'm still wondering how they're going to make this movie interesting, or at least more interesting than the last two. They've used up so many of the best Batman villains. It must be awesome if Nolan is back, though. Hurm.

[JeyNyce]

If they are using "normal" villains then I say go with Talia & Hugo Strange

[Mr. Hamrick]

If they are using "normal" villains then I say go with Talia & Hugo Strange

I'm pushing for Talia, Catwoman, and Hugo Strange at this point.  Black Mask would work, too.

[JeyNyce]

Update:

Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle, whose alter ego is Catwoman, in The Dark Knight Rises.
Tom Hardy will be playing Bane

http://www.slashfilm.com/catwoman/

I trust Nolan, but I can't see Bane in his style of movies.  Plus Tom Hardy?

[BlueBard]

Anne Hathaway can handle the acting part.  Not totally sure she fits my mental picture of Catwoman (a bit short and a bit less curvy), and I'm not too sure how believably she can project Catwoman's brand of sensuality, but I'm sure she can pull it off under Nolan's direction.  Certainly she's a better choice than some of the other names mentioned.  She's not just a pretty face.

[Mr. Hamrick]

Anne Hathaway can handle the acting part.  Not totally sure she fits my mental picture of Catwoman (a bit short and a bit less curvy), and I'm not too sure how believably she can project Catwoman's brand of sensuality, but I'm sure she can pull it off under Nolan's direction.  Certainly she's a better choice than some of the other names mentioned.  She's not just a pretty face.

Thank goodness it wasn't Talia.  Unless Talia is going to be the second female role.  I doubt this.

How tall do you envision Catwoman exactly?  Anne is 5'8".    Catwoman is usually portrayed about that ht in the comics give or take an inch.  I think it's the perfect casting choice. 

The Hardy casting choice for Bane is curious.  I think I know the direction Nolan is going.  If so, it could be nothing short of brilliant.  The only issue is going to be the size issue.  Hardy will obviously be bulking up.  However, he won't won't be able to get as big as Bane in the comics.  That leaves three options: 1) a smaller Bane than what is in the comics, 2) CGI similar to what was done in The Hulk  3) a muscle suit.  I'm betting 1 or 2.   I'm leaning toward the idea that this version of Bane will have some sort of "steroid baseball player or pro-wrestler build" hence the smaller than what appears in the comics but maybe augmented with some smaller scale CGI. 

[BWPS]

He already bulked up for a movie and he was pretty huge. Not Bane huge, but comic book heroes always look buffer than their movie counterparts. I like these choices.

[deano_ue]

bit of a random choice for a villain in bane, but at least he's be treated with respect this time. though again it proves that the uber realism of nolan does paint the movies into a corner when it comes to characters.

i don't mind the casting of selina she wouldn't have been my choice btu at least she's a decent actress, though is still want rachel weisz as talia no arguments

[Shogunn2517]

To be quite honest, we have technology that can make people my height look like hobbits and people my height to look like Juggernauts.  I'm certain Hardy will buff up.  If they need to make him bigger, I'm sure they can do so seemlessly.  I'm not going to question Nolan's decision or choices.  He's done a splendid job already.

Credit Hambrick on the call though.  But I'd think it'd be kind wierd if we're hearing emphasis put on "Selina Kyle" and not "Catwoman" as if they're fudging the timeline to make Bane appear before Catwoman... maybe I'm reading too much into this.

[Mr. Hamrick]

To be quite honest, we have technology that can make people my height look like hobbits and people my height to look like Juggernauts.  I'm certain Hardy will buff up.  If they need to make him bigger, I'm sure they can do so seemlessly.  I'm not going to question Nolan's decision or choices.  He's done a splendid job already.

Credit Hambrick on the call though.  But I'd think it'd be kind wierd if we're hearing emphasis put on "Selina Kyle" and not "Catwoman" as if they're fudging the timeline to make Bane appear before Catwoman... maybe I'm reading too much into this.

It's Hamrick not Hambrick.

And I was a bit off on the prediction.  Not to mention that I was flat out BSed by someone a few weeks ago about the Talia thing.  (Which I think was leaked to throw people off or something perhaps yet to be announced.)  I'm not going to make any judgments obviously.  I am very curious to see what Nolan has up his sleeve. 

As for the technology, I've no doubt the technology exists.  Having been in an editing room with some special effects programs, I can attest to this firsthand.  I'm just curious that Nolan would opt for much "CGI visual effects" given his past record.  He tends to prefer minimal CGI in his projects, even Inception was minimal CGI and more "old school" effects methods.  However, I still think there is a lot of room to play with here.

And I think the emphasis on Selina Kyle over Catwoman is for two reasons, the first being to distance this version from the awful Halle Berry fiasco and the second would be to keep the fans guessing and not let the cat out of the bag too soon.  Remember, Harvey Dent was announced before it was announced that we'd be seeing Harvey as Two Face.  Though given it's Nolan's last film, we'll see Catwoman at some point.

Oh, and there was a call for TWO female characters.  I don't think we are quite done with casting yet.  I've an idea that we might yet see Talia in the movie. 

I'm calling right now though that

Spoiler

Bane will be hired to "take down" Batman by either the GCPD task force or by Talia.  If it's Talia, then we'll see Selina as Catwoman helping Bruce which would be a set up for certain elements of the relationship between Bruce and Selina.

Just a hunch based on what my gut tells me about the possibilities here.

[Podmark]

Quite happy about Bane being in it. He's a pretty cool villain when written properly and will fit very well in the Nolan movies.

[bredon7777]

Update:

Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle, whose alter ego is Catwoman, in The Dark Knight Rises.

This makes me very, very happy.

Unfortunately,  THIS

Tom Hardy will be playing Bane

makes me very, very sad.

I mean, Bane? Seriously?  Despite Simone somewhat redeeming him in Secret Six, he ranks just above Calendar Man and Calculator (the original, not the new semi-cool one) in the list of villains I have any interest in seeing.

I mean even factoring out those Rogues with innate powers (Clayface, Poison Ivy), or ones whose powers are too fantastic to fit in with Nolan's real-world ethos (Mr. Freeeze, Man-Bat) still leaves at least a dozen or so major players that would make a better choice than frakkin Bane. Hell, even Hush would be better.

Nolan's built up a lot of credit with me by delivering several of my personal Top 20 films of my lifetime- he's risking it all here.

Still, he's one of a handful of directors that could overcome the inherent lameness of the character and erase the horrible memories of his first on-screen appearance.

Here's hoping he proves me wrong, I guess. He's done it before.

[catwhowalksbyhimself]

I thought the TAS version of Bane was pretty cool.  Intelligent, powerful, and threatening.  Bane can be quite brilliant when done right.

The key it not to just make him a big muscled dude.  He's dangerous because he's intelligent.  Unfortunatley, his size seems to call out big dumb guy to some people, but that's all wrong.

[JeyNyce]

How would Bane work in a Nolan film?
Here are a few ideas:
1 - Make him have a military background
2 - Don't put Venom in the movie - they didn't use Joker's laughing gas so don't use Venom, keep it somewhat real
3 - Make him a mob boss type

What are your ideas?

[detourne_me]

Here's how I think Nolan could do Bane.
1. Little to no Venom - he could treat it as a concoction made by scarecrow that just fuels rage, instead of fear... Not a super steroid.
2. Give Bane his original character of an unscrupulous criminal, not a meathead.  He could be a contracted killer or bounty hunter on the lookout for Batman
3. The costume... Keep the luchadore mask, but give him a bady armor vest like in the punisher: war zone movie.

Anne Hathaway is great I think, and it will be interesting how far they'll go to make her Catwoman,

[Mr. Hamrick]

There is talk of a third villain or major role yet to be announced.   

I'm betting on Talia because of the ties to the first movie and the fact that there was a mention of two major female roles being cast.  However, it'd be interesting if it was Black Mask.

I keep thinking about themes in the movie.  The issue of identity has been something running through each film.  (Bruce becoming Batman and the idea that the "Playboy Bruce" is the mask where Batman is the real, the dual nature of Harvey/Two Face, the lack of an apparent mask in The Joker, and Bruce's inner debate on rather or not it was worth continue to maintain the facade.)  Black Mask and Hugo Strange could both be tied to this as could Talia.  Bane could too arguably but in a less effective way.  I suspect Catwoman will be tied into it.

[Shogunn2517]

Bane is an interesting character in my opinion.  I think it's a good choice for the way they can take him and use him.

To me, Bane is a really intellectual character that seems to be enlightened and self-assured, but he'd be dependent on a drug essentially.  It's kinda like how I see Darth Vader.  You see him being this big and bad guy, a powerful former Jedi, but he can't even breathe on his own.  It's that kind of dynamic that makes characters interesting.  With that, I can see them theming DKR in that light.  It's noted that BB was about the dynamic of two sides of a mask, TDK was about revealing your true self.  I can see DKR exploring the need of crutch or props to be who you are.  Does Bane need Venom?  Does Batman/Bruce need Bruce/Batman?  Just trying to to imagine how a Selina Kyle/Catwoman can swing dyamic even more.

Another thought I'm having is the balance between the villains in the films.  In TDK, the balance was between chaos and order.  Joker(chaos)/Batman(order), Two-Face(chaos)/Harvey Dent(order).  BB, the balance was fear.  Fear being used as a weapon for good and evil.  I could see a simple David/Goliath theme being used in DKR as well.  Batman being man and being reliant on his humanity as opposed to Bane who is reliant on a drug.

In DKR, it's hard for me to imagine Venom NOT being used in some sort of way, considering awareness of steroids as of late in the real world.  I could easily see it being used in that sort of way as a "drug", not percisely like a weapon.  Of course, with this being Hollywood, you can expect Bane to put the luchador mask on three or four times in the film, maybe in conjunction with Venom use.

[Shogunn2517]

Something else that just came to mind as well was how the villains have been used in each movie as well.  In both movies, one villain has been used as more of a "inner struggle" or more of a challege to the identity of Bruce Wayne, a "Bruce Wayne villain", while the other villain has been the overt fight or a "Batman villain".

Batman Begins had Bruce Wayne challenged by Ducard/Ra's al Ghul, while the Batman Identity had his fight with Scarecrow.  In The Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne had his inner struggle with Harvey Dent/Two-Face, while the Batman Identity had the overt fight with the Joker. 

In The Dark Knight Rises, it would make sense(and seem clear to me) that the struggle for the Wayne Identity would be with Selina Kyle, who I can see challenging him to embrace Batman or to embrace Wayne, while Bane would be the villain for the Batman Identity.

[JeyNyce]

They can also use Catwoman like the Black Cat in Spider-man: She loves Batman, but thinks that Bruce is a spoiled playboy.