Not so long ago, Christopher Nolan announced that he would be making a sequel to The Dark Knight and people were just a bit excited about it. Just a bit. Then it was announced the sequel was to be called The Dark Knight Rises and to be honest, that’s not a great name is it?

But after the tragic death of Heath Ledger, whose performance as The Joker in the Dark Knight was nothing short of phenomenal, the big question hanging over this next film was what villain would terrorise Gotham next?

Then there were rumours floating around about Inception’s Tom Hardy being the next big baddie. Rumours of him playing Doctor Hugo Strange to be precise. Doctor Hugo Strange is one of the oldest Batman villains, even outdating The Joker and would probably fit in well with the gritty, realistic Gotham Nolan has created. But a baldy with a huge beard and John Lennon glasses… Doesn’t exactly fit the Tom Hardy look does it?

Personally, after seeing Hardy at his fighting-best in Bronson, the character of Bane immediately came to mind. Bane being a mask-wearing, hardened South American criminal with superhuman strength due to controlled exposure to ‘venom’, an experimental drug. Bane is the only character in Batman’s history to put him out of action for a considerable amount of time after “breaking the bat’s back”.

And then this week… Well this week it was announced that Tom Hardy would be playing… Bane. Not Strange. In fact it doesn’t even look like Strange will even make an appearance. In addition to this announcement, it was revealed that the beautiful Anne Hathaway will be playing Selina Kyle aka Catwoman, although in Warner Bros’ press release no reference was made to Catwoman. But then, when Aaron Eckhart was cast as Harvey Dent in the last film, there was no reference to Two-Face either, so let’s ignore that.

So we have Bane and Catwoman. Catwoman, although she most likely needs no introduction, being a latex-laden thief of the night and, in many incarnations, Bruce Wayne’s love interest. So, the chances are that after the death of Rachel in the last film, Hathaway could be stepping into Maggie Gyllenhall’s shoes. Who knows.

Bane has been in a previous Batman film, the ultra-terrible Batman and Robin, starring George Clooney in a suit that had nipples on it. Big, black, unnecessary nipples. In this film Bane, along with pretty much all of the rest of the characters, was essentially turned into a joke.

A veiny, green, giant with a silly costume and close to zero dialogue besides the odd grunt or roar, it won’t be difficult for Hardy to top the performance, but making Bane realistic enough to be acceptable in Nolan’s Gotham certainly will be. After all, a man in a luchador style mask with a suit designed to administer drugs at the push of a button isn’t exactly something you see every day, but this is Christopher Nolan we’re talking about here. He’ll figure it out somehow.

It’s the same with Hathaway as Catwoman. Fanboys/girls from here to the ends of the earth were in semi-uproar when her casting was announced, and to be fair she isn’t the first person you’d consider of when you think of the role. Catwoman has also been made into a joke in the past, most notably so in her own film starring Halle Berry. A film that sank into nothingness/bargain bins due to being, for a lack of a better word, a mess. But like we said, Christopher Nolan has proven time and time again that he knows what he’s doing, so we’ll just have to trust his decision.

If the last two Batman films (and Inception for that matter) are anything to go on, then The Dark Knight rises should be yet another a fan-satisfying, highly successful outing. And anyone with any doubt out there should perhaps watch those films again to reassure themselves. These casting announcements, although unexpected, are incredibly exciting. We can’t wait to find out more.

FemaleFirst – Fareed Athman