Villains Announced for the Next Batman Movie

There have been few films in recent memory with more rampant and wild speculation about cast and story than the upcoming "The Dark Knight Rises." Going back as far as immediately after the release of "The Dark Knight" various blogs and sources have speculated and claimed to know what the new characters would be in the next film. Those early rumors included Johnny Depp playing the Riddler and Philip Seymour Hoffman playing the Penguin. Of course it was all ridiculous, many of the early rumors were spread across the internet before mastermind Christopher Nolan had even been confirmed to come back and make the film. The title was only announced a little over a month ago and nobody really has nailed down what the story line is. That hasn't stopped the various casting rumors from bustling all over the net. Well finally there has been some confirmed casting of new key characters.

In an official press release Warner Brothers confirmed that Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy have been cast as Selina Kyle and Bane respectively. Selina Kyle is of course the real name of Catwoman and has been portrayed on screen previous by Michelle Pfeiffer in "Batman Returns." Catwoman has long been assumed to be in the film by fans. With the character of Rachel Dawes having been killed in "The Dark Knight" she'll bring a female presence to the proceedings that would otherwise be lacking. Tom Hardy as Bane comes a half-surprise. Hardy, who was featured in Nolan's film "Inception," has been linked to the film for some time now but it was believed that he would play the villainous psychiatrist Hugo Strange. The character of Bane was one that had never really come up at all in the various online rumors, which just goes to show how leak free the production of the film has been thus far.

The only thing the press release actually confirmed was the characters, exactly how they'll fit into the story is still anybody's guess. Catwoman can be presented in quite a number of different ways, and has been over the years. While originally introduced as a villain her roll in the comic book in more recent times has been more part-time ally to Batman. She is often on the wrong side of the law, usually shown to be a jewel thief, but has a certain code of morals that is not all that different from Batman's. The two have also been romantically linked off and on over the years as well, which has always made things more tricky when they found themselves on opposite sides of a conflict. Given that there is another more outright villainous character being included it seems likely that Catwoman will fall into a more grey area in terms of being either hero or villain.

Bane is one of the more recent entries in Batman's rogue's gallery. He was introduced in the 1990s in the storyline "Knightfall" in which he succeeded in breaking Batman's spine. While it's doubtful that Nolan will use that story line directly the key things to take away is that Bane is not only hugely physically powerful but also quite clever and intelligent as well. It's the combination of brains and brawn that make him such a danger, and it would be a unique one for Batman in this series. In the first two films Batman never really encountered a character who was truly able to stand up to him in a fight. The Scarecrow had his fear gas and the Joker had sheer unpredictability but neither could actually go toe to toe and slug it out with the Dark Knight. Bane most assuredly can, and in the comics has bested Batman on more than one occassion in a physical fight. Bane was shown on screen previously in "Batman & Robin" but only as a mindless brute.

It's tempting to think that the wild rumors about "The Dark Knight Rises" might dwindle somewhat with this casting announcement, since most of the rumors had been about who the villains were going to be and who would play them. In all honesty though the rumors will probably keep popping up, only now they'll shift to the actual story. It's been made clear by Nolan that he plans this to be his last Batman film and he considers it the final chapter of a trilogy. So how Nolan intends to bring the tale of Bruce Wayne to some form of conclusion is still an open question, and one that many online bloggers will doubtless speculate about right up until the film's release on July 20, 2012.