The Official Thread for The Dark Knight Rises

[Donald Williams]

Crazy rumors about the cast for "The Dark Knight Rises," the third of director Christopher Nolan's Batman films, have been going on for so long that Vulture's Lane Brown gleefully made fun of the phenomenon seven months ago. At that point, the following human beings had been connected to the sequel: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Johnny Depp, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Cher, Eddie Murphy, Rachel Weisz, Miley Cyrus, Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. This is a natural by-product of the Internet and of the massive success of "The Dark Knight," which Nolan turned into one of the biggest hits of all time, in some effect, through the casting of the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. This is the most prestigous, profitable franchise in Hollywood, and everyone wants a part.
And today, for the first time, after all the rumors have dissipated, we know who the villains in "The Dark Knight Rises" will be. Warner Bros just announced that Anne Hathaway will play Selina Kyle, and that Tom Hardy, of Nolan's "Inception," will play Bane. Christian Bale will be back as Batman, and Nolan has said this will be his final Batman film.
Hathaway was one of the many actresses rumored to be auditioning for the film last week (a group that reportedly included Jessica Biel and Keira Knightley), and apparently she won over Nolan. (That she's at the apex of her career, with her Oscar co-hosting duties next month, doesn't hurt either.) This is the first time we've learned that Selina Kyle -- who is more commonly known as "Catwoman" -- will be a part of the film. It is definitely worth noting that the Warner Bros. release never says the word "Catwoman." That could mean that Hathaway will be playing Kyle before she turns into Catwoman, or that they're trying to establish some distance from Halle Berry's widely panned performance in her "Catwoman" spinoff in 2004, or that the studio is trying to play a little coy with the announcement of an iconic Batman love-interest-cum-villain.
Of course, Berry's not even the most famous movie Catwoman: That would be Michelle Pfeiffer, who was the highlight of the underrated "Batman Returns, Tim Burton's last film in the franchise, back in 1992. In that version, Kyle, a sheepish secretary, becomes Catwoman by being brought back to life -- after being murdered by Christopher Walken -- by an alley-full of stray cats. But in the comics, she's a street criminal with a tragic past similar to Batman's, a Robin Hood sort who steals from the city's wealthy and gives it to the destitute. That seems a more likely direction for Nolan's morally ambiguous Batman universe. And, obviously, the notion of Anne Hathaway in a Catwoman suit is not necessarily a negative one either.
This isn't the first time Hardy's Bane has been in a Batman film, though his appearance was far less memorable. In 1997's much-mocked "Batman & Robin," Bane was played by the late wrestler Jeep Swenson. In that film, he was Poison Ivy's bodyguard, but did little more than grunt and flex. The DC Comics version of Bane is far more layered. There, Bane is another Batman character who was doomed from birth. He was born and raised in a South American prison -- the law there required his father's life sentence for murder to be served by his son, which hardly seems fair -- he becomes a body-building strongman, along with a superior intelligence wrought in the prison library, simply to survive behind bars. He ended up running the prison's inmates, which led the threatened warden to force him to become a test subject on an experiment with a substance called "Venom." The venom makes him supernaturally strong, but he's required to take it every 12 hours, or he'll die. Eventually he escapes prison and wreaks doomed havoc on the streets of Gotham. In a way, this character is not all that different from the character Hardy played in "Bronson," Nicolas Winding Refn's 2008 film about England's most notorious prison inmate. This is certainly what Nolan had in mind by casting him.
It's not known whether the rest of the "Dark Knight" cast -- Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman -- will return for the film, but they are expected to. It will be released in June 2012, which should give everyone plenty of time to come up with a whole new roll call of rumors, now that this news dispenses with all the old ones.

http://blog.movies.yahoo.com/blog/435-anne-hathaway-is-your-new-selina-kyle

Hell yes!! I have always been a fan of Anne Hathaway.

[JJwells]

YES SHE IS NIIICGHT!

[MasonK565]

Yes, that is awesome. She is an amazing actress and very good looking. I just can't wait for the villain. Can we make this the Official Dark Knight Rises Thread?

[MasonK565]

http://www.comicvine.com/news/its-official-anne-hathaway-is-catwoman-and-tom-hardy-is-bane/142744/

Another source saying the same thing.

Tom Hardy as Bane, oh hell yes.

Bane is awesome, and hopefully this movie will do the character justice, unlike Batman and Robin.

[Donald Williams]

I would like to point out that the press release curiously never specifically said that Anne was playing as Catwoman, it only specifies that she's "Selina Kyle." This likely indicates that she will be catwoman, but, there's a minute possibility that she'll only play as Selina.

[MasonK565]

I am hoping that the Nolan's wrote in Bane breaking Batman's back, as in the "Knightfall" story arc, that could be a really tragic and beautiful end to the trilogy if they pull it off right.

[JakeTheSnake]

Nolan writes his own stories though, he doesn't follow the comics.

[MasonK565]

Well yeah, obviously. I am not saying he needs to follow, I am just saying that would be great if he did add in that aspect from Knightfall. And The Dark Knight was influenced by "The Long Halloween," as Goyer said himself. The Joker in the Dark Knight was also influenced by "The Killing Joke" as well, as Nolan said it himself. Hell, the interrogation scene from The Dark Knight and The Killing Joke is similar. So while yes, the Nolans and Goyer make and write a new story, they are still influenced by past Batman comics. So the whole possibility of having some Knightfall influence is not out of the question.

I also hope to see another little cameo at least of Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow. I marked like crazy in theaters when I saw his cameo in The Dark Knight.

[Donald Williams]

Haha, what's awesome is that a lot of bloggers predicted that Catwoman would be in this movie because of a single line from The Dark Knight.

Bruce- "How will it be against Dogs?"

Fox- "We talkin rottweilers or chihuahuas? it should be fine against cats.

[Silent_Brad]

Tom Hardy playing Bane will definitely be interesting. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Nolan fits Bane into the current universe he has going.

Ann Hathaway seems like a little bit of an odd choice, to me, but I trust that it will work. As for if she will actually become Catwoman in the film, I'd say it's pretty safe to say she will. Even if its dealt with like Dent/Two Face was dealt with in the last film.

But yeah, can't wait for this.

[Donald Williams]

Tom Hardy playing Bane will definitely be interesting. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Nolan fits Bane into the current universe he has going.

Ann Hathaway seems like a little bit of an odd choice, to me, but I trust that it will work. As for if she will actually become Catwoman in the film, I'd say it's pretty safe to say she will. Even if its dealt with like Dent/Two Face was dealt with in the last film.

But yeah, can't wait for this.

Well, while Anne seems like a unique decision, I've pretty much thrown my full support after Nolan after seeing Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight. The initial backlash against Ledger's casting was incredible, it's now hilarious to look at these reactions after seeing Heath's wonderful performance.

There were also questions surrounding Ellen Page's casting in Inception, however, I believe her performance silenced any doubters of that casting decision.

In Nolan I trust.

[MasonK565]

http://comics.ign.com/articles/114/1145394p1.html


A really good article, and can be very descriptive for non-comic book fans and could possibly give insight on what to expect.

[MasonK565]

http://www.comicvine.com/news/joseph-gordon-levitt-to-join-dark-knight-rises-cast/142779/


Hmmm, it seems that it is very likely that Levitt will join the cast for DKR, which brings the question, who will he play?

[Donald Williams]

http://www.comicvine.com/news/joseph-gordon-levitt-to-join-dark-knight-rises-cast/142779/


Hmmm, it seems that it is very likely that Levitt will join the cast for DKR, which brings the question, who will he play?

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!

My apologies, I'm just over here, completely nerding out.

[JakeTheSnake]

http://www.comicvine.com/news/joseph-gordon-levitt-to-join-dark-knight-rises-cast/142779/


Hmmm, it seems that it is very likely that Levitt will join the cast for DKR, which brings the question, who will he play?

That is amazing news! Also a little off topic but it has to deal with Christopher Nolan. Does anyone else think that Nolan was screwed over by not getting a best director nod for Inception?

[Donald Williams]

http://www.comicvine.com/news/joseph-gordon-levitt-to-join-dark-knight-rises-cast/142779/


Hmmm, it seems that it is very likely that Levitt will join the cast for DKR, which brings the question, who will he play?

Hmm...I could see a couple of different scenarios.

First, I think Nolan has perfected the art of using two villains within a single movie, keeping that in mind, I highly doubt he's going to insert a third villain into the next movie.

So, considering this, I'm thinking Levitt could play Hugo Strange, and that Anne will only fill the role of Selina Kyle, (The press release never said she would play "Catwoman.")

Or, Seeing that Sal Maroni died in the last movie, Nolan is going to need to find somebody to take over the Falcone Crime Family, I think Levitt could definitely slide into this role. This scenario would allow Anne to play Catwoman, and also open up a myriad of potential storylines in the movie.

[MasonK565]

Hmm, I could easily see Anne as Selina only, and have J G-L take the role of the family or Hugo. In Batman Begins, we and Liam as Rha's, Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, and Carmine Falcone, so he kinda had 3 villains in the first one, so I think Nolan could pull off the 3 villain format, but I would much rather prefer 2 villains.

[Donald Williams]

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/The-Dark-Knight-Rises-Rumor-Names-Joseph-Gordon-Levitts-Role-as-The-Holiday-Killer/8392

The Dark Knight Rises Rumor Names Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Role as The Holiday Killer
February 10, 2011

Christopher Nolan has taken a "real world" approach to his Batman films thus far and there's no reason why he won't continue this approach for the third and final act, The Dark Knight Rises. That's why this new rumor, one of many we've been subjected to regarding this film, actually makes sense.
An anonymous scooper has dropped a note to CBM claiming that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is signed to appear in The Dark Knight Rises as Alberto Falcone aka the Holiday Killer. This character is the estranged son of former mob boss Carmine Falcone who appeared in Batman Begins as played by Tom Wilkinson. The rumor suggests Alberto returns to Gotham to take over his deceased father's crime empire and would likely cross paths with the Bat.

The source also claims Nestor Carbonell will return as Mayor Garcia, a character that appeared in The Dark Knight.

Nolan's Cinematographer has already gone on record saying he has read the script for The Dark Knight Rises and said it completes "a perfect trilogy" that works off of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. What better way to come full circle than to close loose ends left hanging from the first picture.

Gordon-Levitt also somewhat physically resembles the part of Alberto as it was drawn in the Batman comics. Take a look below and form your own opinion.



As with any of the previous gazillion The Dark Knight Rises rumors remember this one is just that, a rumor. It just happens to make a little more sense than most that have come down the pipeline.

Source: CBM

[MasonK565]

If this is true, then that is great casting for Alberto. Now would he actually portray the Holiday Killer as well? Or just the leader of the crime empire?


Quick Fact: It is said that Alberto's character is based off of Fredo Corleone form the Godfather trilogy.

[JakeTheSnake]

Well if that's who he is really playing that was a perfect casting decision. I don't know who else he could possibly be playing.

[MasonK565]

Yeah, Joseph as Hugo Strange would have just been...strange. I prefer him as Alberto.

[JJwells]

This might be slightyl off topic but reading this reminded me of how much im going to miss Heath Ledger, he did an amazing job playing the joker he really lived the part.

[Cjanz]

Him living that part was supposedly unhelpful to his disposition. Weren't there reports about him having severe mental issues and the depth of that character pushed him over the edge?

[JJwells]

Yep thats why he was taking the drugs. He got to far into the part and was having nightmares and other problems.

[MasonK565]

I know, what happened to Heath was a real shame. It was deserving that he won the Oscar for his performance. He went all out for it.

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