The latest trailer from the upcoming Dark Knight Rises promises a whole lot more than just action from the final installment of the Christopher Nolan Batman saga.

Beyond the confirmation that Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) is definitely teaming up with Batman (Christian Bale), we finally get a bit more of a look at John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). It’s obvious he’s a cop, but we see what appears to be him talking with Selina, and we see him drawing chalk bat symbols on wallas along with apparently lamenting the fact that Batman is gone. My suspicions that he is taken on as a protege by Batman are growing, but I still won’t go as far as to say that he becomes Robin.

Thankfully it also appears Bane (Tom Hardy) will be a bit easier to understand.  Yay!

Nolan has a lot to live up to following on the brilliance of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but the atmospheric nature of this trailer leads me to believe he will once again succeed.  It’s just sad knowing this is the end of this brilliant run of films.

The Dark Knight Rises opens in theaters on July 20.

At long last a full trailer has been released for The Dark Knight Rises, and it’s everything we hoped for.

We haven’t seen a trailer since the teaser was released last July, and since then it has been dozens of leaked set videos.  While the trailer still gives us next to no hints to the overall storyline, and it sure shows you enough to whet your appetite for the full release next July.  Anne Hathaway looks fantastic as Selina Kyle (though no hints to her as Catwoman), we only get a few glimpses of Tom Hardy as Bane and we’re left wondering why Christian Bale has a beard as Bruce Wayne again and appears to be in a prison.  (I’m calling that one right now as a flashback to when he was training during Batman Begins.)

Again it appears that Christopher Nolan has done a superb job with Batman, it’s just sad to know this is the last one for him and his team.

This is currently an unofficial copy of the trailer, so don’t be surprised if it gets pulled.  I’ll replace it with an official copy as soon as it’s released. UPDATE: Higher resolution copy now replacing the original.

Promotion for The Dark Knight Rises is already hitting a fever pitch, and it’s not even due out for another seven months.

Despite the fact that set videos have leaked all over the place, official promotional materials for the third film in Christopher Nolan‘s Batman film trilogy have been a bit sparse as of late.  We had a teaser poster last July, and then an official picture of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, but with the upcoming premiere of some completed footage with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, it seems it’s time to step things up again.

Below is the second teaser poster for the film with the simple tagline “The Legend Ends,” and it shows Bane (Tom Hardy) walking away in the rain from a broken Batman mask.  Could this be an allusion to the infamous comic book storyline where Bane literally broke the Batman’s spine?  Could it just be a comment on this being the last of the Nolan series?  Who knows, but it sure sets the mind to wondering.  You can click on the poster for a larger view.

Color fans of the Chris Nolan Batman movie series surprised when we learned that The Dark Knight Rises will take place eight years after the events of The Dark Knight.

Speaking with Empire magazine, Christopher Nolan finally gave us some details of when exactly the third Batman film – The Dark Knight Rises – will take place time wise in relation to the hugely successful second film:

It’s really all about finishing Batman and Bruce Wayne’s story. We left him in a very precarious place. Perhaps surprisingly for some people, our story picks up quite a bit later, eight years after ‘The Dark Knight.’ So he’s an older Bruce Wayne; he’s not in a great state. With Bane, we’re looking to give Batman a challenge he hasn’t had before. With our choice of villain and with our choice of story we’re testing Batman both physically as well as mentally.

This comes as quite a surprise considering where the last film left off with the police chasing Batman through the streets of Gotham as they now believe he killed multiple people.  Many suspected that the last film in the series would pick up shortly after the second film, continuing the events we were left with.  An eight year jump would normally scare the heck out of me, but my faith in Nolan is high enough that I’m willing to follow along and see what he has up his sleeve with this time jump for the series.

The Dark Knight Rises will hit theaters on July 20, 2012.

Filming on The Dark Knight Rises has moved to New York City and it looks like it wil again be focused around the citizens of Gotham taking to the streets in protest of something.

All of the filming that was seen involved the three desert camo Tumblers we’ve seen showing up all over the place, and at least some scenes did involve Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy).  The primary focus seems to be on a confrontation between the Gotham City police and a huge group of rioters, but whatever is firing them up is unclear.

All I can say is thank goodness Christopher Nolan doesn’t like to shoot indoor on soundstages because it gives us just that much more to speculate about what is happening in these scenes.

In this take, it appears the cops run past the rioters more than actually fight with them.

In this version you can hear a bit of the dialog of the police saying “Disperse … disperse now or you will be fired upon … this is your last warning … disperse now …” and then the fight happens.

More of a street level take on the happenings.

A good close up of the fighting.

Filming on The Dark Knight Rises continues in Los Angeles, and with that comes outdoor shooting that gives photographers a chance to catch shots of the actors in costume. And, yes, that includes full shots of Anne Hathaway in the Catwoman costume.

Although Warner Brothers released one official image of Anne Hathaway in the Catwoman costume, the fact that she was riding the Batpod (I die a little every time I write that name) concealed the majority of it.  The new shots obtained by JustJared, Splash News Online and Celebrity-Gossip show a very 1960′s Batman television series inspired outfit, somewhat reminiscent of the one worn by Eartha Kitt in the series.  It isn’t campy mind you, just skin tight and very much a catsuit.  Director Christopher Nolan is known to try to cement these films in reality, but I think he may have gone slightly off target with this one.

Oh, and countdown to this being a top Halloween costume in 2012 begins now.

Oh yes, those heels are sensible when fighting crime or being a burglar.  As for the “cat ears” on her head, reportedly that is the googles we’ve seen her wearing in other shots, and when pushed up they give the impression of ears.

I take it this picture is from between takes.

More pictures after the jump.

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Filming on The Dark Knight Rises has moved to Los Angeles, and some new photos have surfaced of Anne Hathaway filming a stunt fight scene … with an apple.

Just Jared posted the images of Anne Hathaway taking on a street thug as Selina Kyle (Catwoman) in the third Batman film.  While some images that leak out from production, these particular ones intrigued me.  If I was a gambling man, I’d say the street thug threatens the kid, Selina walks up and tells him to stop, lunges at her and she subdues him.  What intrigues me is the apple.  My guess would be this is an early scene introducing Selina as a bad ass that can take care of herself, even without losing her apple.  Cheesy?  Yes.  Potentially a kick-ass moment on screen?   Definitely.

Enough with the leaked photos, lets just get this blasted movie into the theaters!  (Yeah, yeah, July 20, 2012 … best birthday present ever to me.)

The Dark Knight Rises is continuing to film in Pittsburgh, but at the rate we’re getting leaked set videos, I’m not sure what will be left to be seen when this film releases on July 20, 2012.

Just kidding, although it feels like we’ve seen a ton, we’ve only seen what will work out to a few moments of the film.  It’s still a lot of stuff to take in, and I suggest if you want to go into this movie spoiler free, you need to not watch any of these videos, nor read anything from here on out as I will talk about each video from the Chris Nolan film.  I would suggest you come back tomorrow.

This is some of the best shots we’ve seen of the Selina Kyle/Catwoman costume yet. (No, this is not Anne Hathaway, it’s her stunt double.) We still have no idea why she’s on the Batpod, but does anyone care at this point?

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The first picture of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises has been released.

Probably the most anticipated moment of the production of the third Chris Nolan Batman film has been the reveal of Anne Hathaway in her Catwoman costume.  The below image was released via the official site for the film this morning, more than likely as a reaction to the numerous images that have been leaking out of the Pittsburgh, PA set where the film is currently shooting.  Oddly enough, while the image is exciting, it raises almost as many questions as it answers.

• What in the world is she doing on the Batpod? (still the silliest name ever)  Catwoman is a thief, so did she steal it, or has she teamed up with Batman as she does sometimes in the comics?
• Kudos to Warner Brothers, they’ve shown us the outfit … without actually showing us the outfit.  We still can’t see the majority of it.
• No head gear?  Catwoman has always worn some sort of hood, usually with at least a slight cat ear motif to it.
• The official site is still only referring to her as “Selina Kyle,” Catwoman’s secret identity.

Well … for all I care, it really doesn’t matter how publicity stills for this film look, there is absolutely nothing that will keep me out of the theater come July 2012.  I had numerous misgivings prior to The Dark Knight, and by the time I walked out of the theater I was ready to walk right back in and see it again.  Chris Nolan has made me such a believer in his concept for these films and characters that, for once, I have actual faith in trust in a filmmaker.  He has not entered these films without a vision, and even the aspects I haven’t liked (The name “Batpod” still drives me up the wall), they have only been mild dislike.

No head gear on Catwoman?  Eh.  Not calling her Catwoman?  Eh.  Casting Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle?  Good job.  Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle on the Batpod?  AWESOME!

The Dark Knight Rises is still a year away from release, but that isn’t stopping Warner Brothers from starting its full-course push to get the word out there about the film.

We had the first photo of Tom Hardy as Bane back in May, and then just last week we got The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster, but now we get something a bit more.  Yes, an actual trailer.  It doesn’t show us a whole lot, and it sure doesn’t show us Anne Hathaway as Catwoman, but it gives us enough to get us ready for the third and final film of the Chris Nolan Batman films.  Enjoy.

Despite still being over a year from release, the first character image from the third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, has been revealed.

It’s been known for some time that Tom Hardy would be playing Bane in the Chris Nolan’s next Batman film, but the question was how they would pull him off.  While a well-known character amongst comic book fans, the character has had a murky existence outside of the books, having appeared in the disastrous 1997 Batman & Robin, and a few appearances in the cartoons.  You can read up on his background, but essentially he was an unwilling test subject for a drug called “Venom” that gave him increased strength, but also made him the size of a small house.

Keeping this in mind, the character seems an odd choice for this series of films as they have stayed pretty firmly rooted in “reality”, so adding someone addicted to a super-strength drug doesn’t seem to quite fit.  Through an elaborate viral campaign yesterday, the first picture from the film was released, and it just happened to be of Bane.  (click image for a much larger view)

Considering the face mask, it’s fairly obvious that the Venom will be involved in the storyline, and while he is muscular, at least it isn’t to the extent he was in the comic books.  I have faith in Chris Nolan, but even seeing the mask makes me a bit nervous about this being involved in these movies.  We’ll just have to wait until July 2012 to find out where this is going, but I’m not sure this is the first image I would have used to promote this film.

Here’s hoping we get a picture of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman next.

The third Batman film has a title now, and at least we know who won’t be the villain.

Series director Christopher Nolan is finally opening up a bit about his third, and presumably last, Batman film. The biggest news is that the title will be The Dark Knight Rises, which, considering where The Dark Knight left off, makes a lot of sense.  Also, all three films have been envisioned as a trilogy, and as is par for the course for these types of “heroes journey” style stories, the titular hero must rise to his ultimate form by the end.

The other big news is that Mr. Nolan has confirmed that The Riddler is not the villain for this film.  This rumor has been floating around for ages, so I’m glad to see it finally squashed as he just doesn’t fit in with the entire feel of these movies.  What we don’t know is who we’re facing off against.  There have been some hints dropped about old characters and new ones, which immediately thinks of Ra’s al Ghul coming back, but add in rumors of females being auditioned for a lead role, and I wonder if Talia al Ghul (the daughter of Ra’s, and a Batman love interest in the books) may be entering the scene.

Of course, the other possibility is that the female will be Catwoman, yet another love interest for our Caped Crusader.

As for anyone else returning, Mr. Nolan has sworn he won’t recast The Joker after the tragic death of Heath Ledger, Two-Face is dead, The Scarecrow is somewhat played out and so that only leaves us with Ra’s al Ghul as a possible returning bad guy.  In the comics this would make perfect sense as he dunks himself in the Lazarus Pits which gives him immortality, but that totally doesn’t fit with Nolan’s world he has set up which leans towards realism.

And in the realm of really good news … Nolan has said “no” to 3D!  THANK YOU!  He told The Los Angeles Times, “We want the look and feel of the film to be faithful to what has come before in the films. There was a large canvas and operatic sweep to The Dark Knight and we want to make a film that will carry on with that look and feel.”

Whatever the set up of this film is, there is no question it will do well, it’s just the wait that is going to kill us.