Christopher Nolan’s conclusion to his extremely popular (and critically-acclaimed) Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, has been in the news so much over the past year alone that it’s kind of shocking to hear it’s only just begun production.
Principal photography has indeed commenced on Nolan’s much-anticipated comic book project, which has prompted speculation to no end about who the villains are, what the plot encompasses, and how exactly Dark Knight Rises could possibly be even bigger and better than The Dark Knight.
Today, we’ve put together a handy report on everything we know for sure about Batman 3 and what rumors are still circling the project.
SIDE NOTE: Click on any of the links in the list of info below to learn more about that particular subject.
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Shooting Locations
Here is what we know for certain about where Nolan and his crew will be shooting Dark Knight Rises:
- Chicago won’t be “playing” Gotham this time around - Pittsburgh is taking its place.
- London and the Indian city of Jodphur will be used in the film as well. How they will be used is unknown.
- Amateur photos taken from the film’s India production have already kicked off heavy speculation about whether the mystical Lazarus Pit will factor into the plot.
Returning Cast Members
Next we will discuss who exactly will be appearing in Dark Knight Rises:
- Franchise veterans Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman are all returning to reprise their respective roles from Nolan’s previous Batman films.
- The only other returning actor is Nestor Carbonell, who will reprise his Dark Knight role as the Mayor of Gotham city.
New Cast Members
Things really start to get interesting when you look at the new cast members who have been added to The Dark Knight Rises:
- Tom Hardy will play the villain Bane.
- Anne Hathaway is playing Catwoman (though how good or bad she’ll be is not yet known).
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt is playing Detective John Blake – a new character created for Nolan’s film.
- Marion Cotillard is playing Miranda Tate – though her character may have a secret identity which would tie Batman 3 to both The Dark Knight AND Batman Begins.
Dark Knight Rises Plot Rumors
Several rumors (none of them confirmed yet) have popped up over the months about certain aspects of the Dark Knight Rises‘ storyline, including:
- A potential explanation of Bane’s Origins in the film.
- How the League of Shadows may figure into the main plot of the film.
- Actor Josh Pence is playing a younger version of Ra’s al Ghul (the villain in Batman Begins).
- Israeli actor Alon Aboutboul will play a “mad scientist” in the movie. Whether or not that scientist is the villain Hugo Strange is unknown.
- We do know that Batman 3 will bring Nolan’s trilogy full circle – though exactly how it will do that is currently unknown.
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This is all we know for certain at this point in time, though in the coming months more information will surely be revealed. We’ll update this post as needed, all while keeping you updated about the latest developments 
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In the end, all will at last be revealed when The Dark Knight Rises in theaters on July 20th, 2012.
Source: Warner Bros.
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Brilliant.
i don’t think this is happening. i think hes banking on the world ending saturday. same for avengers
This is my most anticipated movie of 2012! WOOT!
damb i really was wanting to see a nolan version of the riddler,harley quinne, and poison ivy. i really hope he does one more after this one and uses them espesially riddler, he could be so much more than what he was in batman forever.
but i am looking forward to seeing this nolan make some of the best films nowadays. wish there were more directors like him out there in hollywood.
I still want Nolan to do Five Batman films but I don’t think its going to happen
I dont think Nolan would make more films, which is a real shame, but maybe a new directer of the 4th and 5th batman films would follow in Nolans footsteps?
They could still do one with Riddler (teaming up with penguin which I hoped what would happen in this one, maybe not even on the same team, but the same goal, killing batman)
Penguin (weapon dealer for the mob and gangs using umbrellas in the rain with a machine gun hidden inside to do an assassination when its raining)
Hugo Strange (if he isnt in this one)
Victor Zazzav (however its spelt, he could be a supporting bad guy, like two face was with the joker, he could be used by someone much smarter then him like the riddler to do his grunt work),
clayface (though he would hopefully just be a master of disguise and not a shapeshifter),
Mr. Freeze (just give him a weapon that uses liquid nitrogen and dont make him a guy that can only live in sub-zero temperature, maybe penguin gave him his weapon?),
black mask (the new mob boss in charge)
and many others…
If they did do another (much more realistic, like nolans version) I would like to see riddler/zvazzz (whatever), penguin/blackmask, hugo/ clayface, mr. freeze/penguin, and black mask/… im not even gonna try to spell it this time… there are so many others that i havent even mentioned, take your pick, i like my list, and i would love to see another director do what nolan has proven already works… making batman realistic…
Actually, just give me the directors chair when nolan calls it quits
Haha nice
Here are the titles I wouldve loved:
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Gotham Knights
The New Knight
Batman Beyond
LOVE LOVE LOVE those ideas. you should pen it right away and copyright the script.
Which one did you love? And Gotham Knight wouldve been a good choice I think…
I like the black mask and zzzzzz, followed by,
penguin and ridder
black mask and penguin…
Think I should write them down? make a squipt out of one of them? I wouldnt even know what to do with a finihed squipt, just tell me where to go and ill write it
Um, it’s already been confirmed the franchise will get rebooted after this film.
i think this is just for the people who go on screenrant mostly for any sort of batman news.. since theres no new news here it just makes it obvious ha ha. and i too would like nolan to do at least a 4th batman movie but since he aimed to do 3 from the outset , slapping on a 4th at the end might seem out of place unless he really connected it with the others
I would like to see nolan produce a 4th…possibly with Aronofsky directing and Bale returning as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
micheal mann nolans stle reminds me alot of micheal mann
Style*
There are similarities, but I think Mann is much better at creating a mood and atmosphere. There’s something rather cold and distancing at times about Nolan’s works.
Not that Mann is never that way (see Public Enemies), but I usually feel like I’m there, on scene, when I watch his movies. Nolan’s films just comes off as more aloof.
I am pretty sure Nolan had everyone watch Heat before working on The Dark Knight.
Very possible. I also see a heavy Michael Mann influence (or homage to) in the gunbattle scenes in Inception.
Is Nestor Carbonell confirmed as returning?
I hope so, but now that Ringer’s been picked up, I was wondering how official/firm that is.
Cotillard is Talia al Ghul. I’m calling it.
So does this mean there will be no appearance made by Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow?
I was wondering if he was gonna be 3 for 3 myself…
While, no, he doesn’t absolutely have to be in there, but it would feel odd to not see him — even just briefly.
I still would like to know why Nolan went to great lengths to hide Barbara Gordon’s existence. [a baby in the first movie and then he hid her face in the climatic two-face scene]
Christopher Nolan has already said that he will do no more Batman movies after the next.
Christian Bale and most of the other cast have also said this. So if another batman movie were to be made, it would have to be a completely different universe.
This is a good thing because you cant have a Christopher Nolan batman lead into the Justice League movie
Sure you can. Christopher Nolan’s Batman is Batman exactly as he is in the comics nowadays, except he’s younger.
I wouldn’t mind if they pretended like the first three movies did happen in Batman’s life for the next version.
not really, in the comics, Ras Al Ghul actually is immortal, Joker’s skin is permanent and he meets up with Superman and the rest of the justice league alot.
Nolan’s batman is all about realism, he wants it to be how Batman would work if it was in the real world, not a comic book.
Putting superman and superpowers in that would just ruin all the credibility.
another reboot is needed for Justice League
I think Phil was talking about Bruce WAyne / Batman himself, not the other characters.
My take on a Justice League movie would be just have Batman with no introduction and different actor. People can speculate whether it’s the same Batman from Nolan’s universe but it really doesn’t matter.
The Justice League series did something similar since the Batman series was more grounded in reality (concedingly not as much as Nolan’s), but JL took the animated universe to the superpowered universe of the comics keeping the same Batman and that worked just fine IMO.
I say let them make the Justice League first before talking about further films. That way the cast from that show will have the option to reprise their roles in spin offs and not conflict with possible movies of those characters. (This is also another GOOD reason for canceling the horrid WW show)
As for further Batman movies they could just go for another trilogy with a different director and actor without treading on the same teritory as the Nolans films. No origin story, just jump straight into Gotham. An adaptation of Hush would be awesome.
@ Sandy,
Thank you for doing this,
regarding Catwoman, the first two films involved characters that started as allies and turned out to be bad (Ra’s) or turned bad (Harvey / Twoface). I wonder if Catwoman will take on that kind of role in this one, or if Talkia is in it if she will. Maybe Catwoman is the opposite by starting out as an enemy and turning into an ally by the end.
Hmmm, right now this does sound like it will be better than TDK and end the franchise with a bang. I think it’s better for Nolan to end it with a trilogy & not have another director and new cast step in cause history might repeat itself if you know what i mean.
Batman vs. Batmanuel in ‘Dark Taco’….
So far no other superhero movie no mater whether a DC superhero or Marvel superhero can touch the Nolan Batman franchise… I’m betting on Superman to come in at a very close second… Of course Nolan’s got some skin in the game with Superman… Green Lantern is going to rule this summers superhero movies. Marvel needs to get with the program!
“Get with the program”?
Really? They’ve got stuff planned like fer the next 10 years, stupido
You know, I just had an idea. In relation to “Taken 2″ Screen Rant had reported back in March that Liam Neeson would be taking a break from acting for the rest of 2011 ( http://screenrant.com/taken-2-liam-neeson-benm-106336/ ). That may very well be true… but if Nolan wanted to bring Neeson back for TDKR while keeping Ra’s al Ghul’s role a secret, isn’t that exactly what Neeson’s excuse would be for not doing any other movies during TDKR’s production period? Remember, all we saw in BB was that the train Ra’s was on crashed. We never saw that he actually died.
That may all be wrong, but I think it’s just as likely (or more likely) than the rumors of Dr. Strange being in the film.
I for one would like to know what kind of scenario could bring this full-circle since there wasn’t really an open end in BATMAN BEGINS that I can recall.
Perhaps in the Nolan-verse Batman dies after seeing the citizens rise up inspired from his own sacrificial death???
I think its safe to say that this is the last Batman film for Nolan and any sequel will be a reboot and not a continuation of the N-Verse Batman and so killing Batman in the end would not be unrealistic.Thoughts?
@ BlueCollarCritic
Yeah. I doubt they’ll kill Batman off, We’d be lucky to see him seriously get injured. Imo the only film we seen Batman came close to death & be more get more serious injury i remember seeing would be in Batman Forever after being buried alive in sand & Dick Grayson saves him, then see Alfred tending to his injuries in the Batcave afterwards. Other than that in films before & after he’d get a cut or bit by dogs. Just my opinion. Maybe if they make a Batman Beyond sequel, but even that too is a long shot aswell.
I reckon Batman’s going to get his back broken (permanently) at the end, maybe with JG-L’s character following in his footsteps as a new hero for Gotham, the one which Batman was hoping Harvey Dent would become in TDK.
the dark knight is brilliant i love banes voice i just want to hear him more and more.and at least bane ties with batman in the dark knight they could have called the movie the joker and that would have been better.
i think that having catwoman in there is a betteer touch and so is that underground jail