Casting News for The Dark Knight Rises

So in 2012 we will see Christian Bale put on the bat suit one more time in the next installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises.

The big news released today though is the casting news for two new characters to the series, Catwoman and Bane.

Anne Hathaway has been cast as Selina Kyle, her alter ego being Catwoman, and English Inception star Tom Hardy will be playing one of Batman’s most intelligent and physically powerful villains, Bane.

Hathaway’s role has only been cast as Selina Kyle, so it is unknown if she will be putting on the catsuit at any point or not, but speaking about his new acquisition in a press conference for the film, Nolan said “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.”

The character Bane was played by Robert Swenson in the 1997 film Batman and Robin, although he was not seen as his normal comic like self of being intelligence and instead was used as one of Poison Ivy’s henchmen. Speaking of Hardy’s new character in the press release Nolan added that this film will see a “new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”

As more pieces of this film get pur together it gets me even more excited for is being rumoured to be the final installment of Nolan’s Batman series and if it’s anything like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, it’s going to be a hard film to beat in 2012.

The Dark Knight Rises is scheduled for release on 20th July 2012.