I must admit, I would have bet good money the third film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise would have been titled Gotham City, but Hero Complex is first to report it will be titled The Dark Knight Rises. Even bigger news for some may be that Nolan convinced Warner Bros. to avoid shooting the film in 3D, opting for high-definition and IMAX cameras.
Additionally, Nolan revealed to the blog operating under the “Los Angeles Times” masthead, the villain “won’t be the Riddler.” He continued saying, “We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones.”
Just what villain exactly will be the Dark Knight’s target this time around? There’s absolutely no leads. Of course, yesterday’s rumor saying Nolan had started meeting with actresses in their “late 20s, early 30s” for an undisclosed female lead part led many to speculate perhaps Catwoman would be the villain. Instead this sounds like he’s simply looking for a Rachel Dawes replacement.
There’s also, of course, the casting of Tom Hardy, whom Nolan directed in Inception. Hardy, when cast, was said to have secured a lead role and speculation immediately was that he had been cast as the film’s villain. Only time will tell what’s true and what isn’t.
The Dark Knight Rises is currently scheduled for a July 20, 2012 release, just 17 days after Columbia’s Untitled Spider-Man Reboot.
