Warner Bros. has just announced that Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy, both rumored to be up for roles in The Dark Knight Rises, have been officially cast in the sequel. According to the company's press release, Hathaway will play Selina Kyle while Hardy will play Bane, one of Batman's rogues from the comic books. There are two interesting things about today's event, and I'll comment on that directly after the press release.
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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.
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What's interest to note is that Hathaway's character is only addressed as Selina Kyle in the press release. As Batman fans know, Selina's costumed alter ego is Catwoman. The fact that there is no mention of the name Catwoman in the WB announcement makes me suspect that we won't be seeing Hathaway suit up as Catwoman in the film at all, or possibly only at the very end of it.
The second intriguing fact is that Tom Hardy will be playing Bane and not Hugo Strange, the character that many assumed he was going to play. In fact, the decision to make Bane one of Dark Knight Rises' villains is unusual in and unto itself. The character hasn't been used very effectively in the Batman mythos except as a powerhouse of muscle that broke Batman's back in the "Knightfall" storyline from the comics where Bane was introduced. The character appeared in the poorly received Batman and Robin movie from 1997, and was even more one dimensional than his comic book counterpart.
That doesn't mean that the Bane we'll see in The Dark Knight Rises will be as flat as the Bane we've seen before. If anything, Christopher Nolan has proved that he cares deeply about the Batman movie universe's characters, and Hardy's past performances have been anything but surface deep. In these kind of hands we're probably going to have a different Bane appear in the movie but also one that has elements from the comic's.
The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled to open on July 20, 2012.
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Daltons chin dimple
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Posted: 14 years 14 weeks ago
I did NOT see that coming!