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.

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.

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 Dark Knight Rises, the third in Christopher Nolan’s Batman film series, has received its villains.

Warner Brothers announced today that Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada, Love and Other Drugs) has been cast as Selina Kyle.  While the press release only mentions the name of “Selina Kyle”, pretty much anyone with a passing knowledge of Batman lore will know that this is the alter ego of Catwoman.  However, with Mr. Nolan it has become rather obvious you can’t just assume you know what he’s doing, so until we hear otherwise, we can’t automatically assume she will also be donning the cat suit.

What was confirmed was that Tom Hardy (Inception), who was announced some time back as a villain in the film, has been confirmed to be playing Bane.  This villain is a little less known, but did appear in the dreadful Batman & Robin film.  The story goes that Bane is a convict who gets a hold of a drug known as “Venom”, and that when it is introduced into his system it increases his muscles to astronomical levels.  Seeing as Nolan has kept this series somewhat based in reality, it will be interesting to see what he does with his interpretation.

Here is the full press release:

BURBANK, CA, January 19, 2011 – Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” She will be starring alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Christopher Nolan stated, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.”

In addition, Tom Hardy has been set to play Bane. Nolan said, “I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”

Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Nolan will also produce the film with his longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas, and Charles Roven.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is slated for release on July 20, 2012. The film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.