Expect Few Reveals in 'The Dark Knight Rises' Poster, Teaser Trailer

COMMENTARY | "The Dark Knight" stands as the most successful superhero film of all time, a massive hit with both audiences and critics. Naturally, the follow-up film, " The Dark Knight Rises ," is one of the most highly anticipated films of 2012. Fans of the Batman franchise have been creating their own posters in anticipation of this film for months, but now they can finally see the real thing. The first official poster has premiered on TheDarkKnightRises.com.

The image is stark and very much in keeping with director Christopher Nolan's approach to early marketing, as was seen last year with "Inception." The poster does not feature any of the cast or even the title of the film. It is taken from the perspective of somebody on the streets of Gotham City looking up. Massive buildings rise on all sides and in such a way that frame the overcast sky into the shape of the bat signal. The most riveting aspect of the image, however, is not immediately apparent: The buildings appear to be crumbling and debris is falling all around.

There is quite a bit that can be read into this poster. It's quite clear that, as in the previous two films, the entire city of Gotham will be at risk. This was expected due to the return of the League of Shadows, a group of assassins attempting to make an example of Gotham City in "Batman Begins." However, there's room for interpretation of the image. Some fans take it to mean that Batman will rise again to defend the city while others take a more pessimistic view that Gotham must fall for the Dark Knight to rise. With so few details about the story being known, either option is possible.

Nolan has started to become very well know for the way in which his films are marketed. In the case of both "Inception" and "The Dark Knight," the initial items released were stark, stylized posters and images that grab attention yet actually reveal very little. However, Nolan only uses mystery in the early days; audiences can expect more revealing material as the release date approaches.

Unlike " Super 8 " director J. J. Abrams, who tries to keep the mystery going right up until the release, Nolan knows how to make just the right amount of information public without spoiling anything about his films. Unlike the first image of the villain Bane, this poster was just released in a straight forward manner rather than through a viral campaign.

It is expected that Warner Bros. will attach the first teaser trailer to "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" when it opens Friday. Fans should expect very little footage, if any, from the film itself. With "The Dark Knight Rises" still in the midst of filming, the teaser will most likely mimic the first teaser released for "The Dark Knight." That teaser featured an image of the Bat signal breaking up with audio clips relating to the Joker played over it. At such an early stage in the filming, that's probably all fans will get when the teaser hits theaters and the Internet.