1269 replies to this topic

[Captain Tightpants]

first image of Bane

Congratulations. You posted a dead link.



This is the effect you were going for.

[Vauxhall]

Matthew Modine, Tom Conti and Joey King have joined the cast of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES.

[Monkeyfoahead]

I like it. Bane looks cool, and sinister - like he might break Batman's back. But I want Anne Hathaway in catsuit, please.

how about no clothes?

[coco1997]

how about no clothes?

Four words: "Love & Other Drugs".

[Single-O-Seven]

I like it. Bane looks cool, and sinister - like he might break Batman's back. But I want Anne Hathaway in catsuit, please.

how about no clothes?

I already saw that in that independent movie she made a few years ago. No complaints.

[Captain Tightpants]

Images have appeared online that are supposedly of Catowman, but a lot of people have written them off as fakes, little more than cosplay and convention costumes.

[coco1997]

Images have appeared online that are supposedly of Catowman, but a lot of people have written them off as fakes, little more than cosplay and convention costumes.

Yep. Those pics are most definitely fakes.

[Single-O-Seven]

Images have appeared online that are supposedly of Catowman, but a lot of people have written them off as fakes, little more than cosplay and convention costumes.

Yep. Those pics are most definitely fakes.

It will be explicitly clear when the real photos are released.

[Captain Tightpants]

Two "new" videos have appeared online, but like the Catwoman photos, they've been written off as frauds, albeit ones that are much more clever than the cosplay costume.

I've heard a lot of people suggest that the chanting from The Fire Rises website is a group of monks, suggesting that they could be around a Lazarus Pit resurrecting Ra's al Ghul. Ignoring for the moment that all reports agree Ra's will only appear in scenes thirty years outside the main storyline, the chanting doesn't sound anything like monks to me. If anything, the first thing I think of when I hear it is the crowd at a football match rallying their team ... or a group of prisoners getting excited during a fight, which just so happens to be in line with Bane's backstory.

[Vauxhall]

Teaser poster for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES:

[coco1997]

Can't. ing. wait.

[Messervy]

Very nice!
Can't wait...

[Jim]

Very clever but I fear it might get a bit pompous again about the breakdown in the fabric of society.

I miss Robin.

[DamnCoffee]

Very nice poster!

[coco1997]

No Man's Land storyline?

[Simon]

Stunningly inventive.

Hoping no all-knowing pompous muppet charges in with comments about photoshop this and photoshop that, this time around.

[Professor Dent]

Has a bit of an Inception style vibe to it (which isn't a bad thing in my book).

[Captain Tightpants]

No Man's Land storyline?

I wouldn't be so quick to judge. The crumbling buildings could very well represent "No Man's Land", but they could also be synonymous with Gotham collapsing in Batman's absence, or the way Bruce Wayne's world unravels following the events of THE DARK KNIGHT. Besides, based on what we know about RISES - particularly the presence of Bane - it doesn't really fit in with "No Man's Land".

[Captain Tightpants]

Teaser trailer online. Will likely be removed in the very immediate future - one version was uploaded to YouTube and taken down within two minutes. The description of the trailer leaked yesterday is accurate:

Spoiler

The teaser appears to be making two points: first of all, it's going full circle. Nolan has said it's a call-back to the events of BATMAN BEGINS, and most of the first half of the trailer shows as much, with footage from the film intercut with Ra's al Ghul describing how Bruce can rise above being flesh and bone to become a legend.

The second act shows that Batman has retreated from the public view. Most of it is a shot of Jim Gordon in a hospital bed, though it's not clear if he's sick or injured. Given that he is struggling to speak and his position, I'd say he's ill. Bruce Wayne is also present, but off-camera. It looks like Bruce has lost his faith in Batman's ability to be a force for good, but Gordon insists Batman has to exist.

The third and final act is very short, and mostly consists of the film logo. And unlike the usual white-text-on-black-background that Nolan has used, there is black text on a white title card. Evidently, redemption is a major theme here. There's also limited footage of Bane - an out-of-focus shot that sharpens up, and at the end, Bane and a very tired-looking Batman squaring off. The trailer ends with that chanting from #TheFireRises, but the more I hear it, the more I doubt it is some kind of ritual to resurrect someone with a Lazarus Pit. It sounds more like the kind of cheering you'd hear at a football game or in a prison, and we know both feature in the film.

[Matt_13]

Couldn't tell that was Gordon until you wrote that it was, Captain. Have to wait for better quality to have even the slightest clue what's supposed to be going on in that trailer, but exciting stuff nonetheless.

[Captain Tightpants]

Crazy theory about the trailer:

Spoiler

Bane doesn't break Batman's back - he breaks Gordon's.

We know that RISES begins with Batman on the run. Officially, the Gotham Police Department has always been searching for him, but unofficially, they've supported him. Especially Gordon.

One of the major plot points in THE DARK KNIGHT was that Batman acquired a new ally: Harvey Dent. Along with Gordon, the three formed a conspiracy to take down the mob in Gotham. But by the end of THE DARK KNIGHT, the Joker has succeeded in destroying Dent, and while Batman and Gordon do what they can to preserve Dent's image, it is still a major blow to them.

The setup for RISES seems to be that Batman has disappeared from public view since the events of THE DARK KNIGHT. Dialogue in the trailer implies that Bruce Wayne has lost faith in his alter-ego's ability to be a force for good; alternatively, he may believe that he has done all he can for Gotham in the guise of Batman, and that Batman can no longer protect them.

When Bane was introduced in the "Knightfall" arc, the centrepiece was him breaking Batman's back. Critics claimed that this was little more than Mola Ram Syndrome, giving a villain a super-evil power to give them instant credibility (it's named after Mola Ram in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM who was largely non-threatening, and so given the ability to tear a man's still-beating heart from his body). However, Bane has always been characterised as being as cunning and as intelligent as he is strong.

This is important for RISES because if Batman has already retreated to self-imposed exile, Bane would not be able to break his back until later in the film, once Batman has emerged to confront him. It would likely happen in their first fight, and would reek of giving Bane instant credibility. Rather, I trust Nolan to play up the other aspects of Bane's character, most notably his intelligence. The exact plot details for the film remain unknown, but his goal will likely be the ultimate destruction of Batman.

The "Knightfall" storyline has Bane all too aware that rushing to a confrontation with Batman will not end well for him. So he instead frees the inmates of Arkham Asylum, wearing Batman down as he is forced to re-capture each and every one of them. Bane is able to break Batman's back by ambushing him when Batman is exhausted. And this could be implemented into RISES in a figurative - rather than literal - way.

We know that Jim Gordon has always been Batman's ally, and with Harvey Dent's death and the blow the Joker dealt their little conspiracy, Batman is going to be depending on Gordon more than ever. Bane is intelligent enough to work this out - he knows that the Gotham police could capture Batman if they wanted to. And be extension of that, he will know that Batman has to have supporters inside GCPD. I believe he will work out that Batman and Gordon are allies, and so will attack Gordon early in the film, breaking his back. This will be to force Batman out into the open. It would have the same effect as Bane's action in "Knightfall" when he released the inmates of Arkham Asylum: mentally and physically wearing him down, increasing Bane's chances in the confrontation.

It also explains why Gordon is in hospital, and why he implores Bruce Wayne to return as Batman (Gordon was always intelligent enough to work out who Batman really is, but chose not to).

Wow. That was way longer than i intended it to be.

[SecretAgentFan]

But very plausible.

[Captain Tightpants]

Well, I'm just thinking of how I'd do it if I were the one writing it. Doing it that way would give a better flow to the narrative.

[Righty007]

Anybody have a link to the teaser? It's playing in front of Harry Potter so it shouldn't still be hard to find online but I can't find it.

[coco1997]

Wait until WB releases the high-definition trailer, which should be no later than Monday. It will be well worth the wait.

[TheREAL008]

There's alot of speculation on other sites thinking that Bruce gets his back broken. Wonder if it could be true.

[Captain Tightpants]

Anybody have a link to the teaser? It's playing in front of Harry Potter so it shouldn't still be hard to find online but I can't find it.

It hasn't been released online yet. WB don't generally release big-name trailers straight away - they'll attach them to another big film release for the opening weekend before launching it online.

There's alot of speculation on other sites thinking that Bruce gets his back broken. Wonder if it could be true.

Eh. I've seen those rumours and they're all unsourced. And like I said earlier, it makes more sense for Bane to break Gordon's back.

[coco1997]

Currently my biggest fear about this film is how they're going to balance screentime between Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Marion Cotillard's Miranda Tate. I still believe Tate is an alias for Talia al Ghul; it makes perfect sense considering the presence Ras al Ghul will clearly have in the new film as well as the fact that Ras al Ghul himself used an alias (Henri Ducard) in "Begins". Going off the description of Tate's character from the press release announcing Cotillard's casting, it seems she's definitely going to be a love interest for Bruce Wayne, and I can't imagine Selina Kyle being in the film without also being his flame.

[Captain Tightpants]

Dave, if nothing else, INCEPTION demonstrated just how good Nolan is at weaving multiple events and timelines together. I suspect that Tate will be Bruce Wayne's love interest, and Selina will be Batman's. And if Tate is indeed Talia, then if I were Nolan, I'd reveal it early on. I hate it when writers put in a big revelation at the end and leave it at that - if something is so big that it changes everything, then it shouldn't be left until the end because the characters need to deal with the consequences of it. Bruce would be forced to commit to one identity of the other, and would be leaning heavily towards Bruce Wayne - until Talia reveals herself at an opportune moment, prompting Bruce to commit to Batman. At the same time, Bane would break Gordon's back, dealing another psychological blow to Batman because Gordon is Batman's strongest ally. It's been said that Bane's plan is the "ultiamte destruction" of Batman. I don't think this would involve killing him, but rather forcing him to watch on powerlessly as Bane tears Gotham apart.

[TheREAL008]

Terrific. Now Jim can now become Oracle if his back gets broken.