"The Dark Knight Rises" Villain(s) Revealed

Warner Bros. announced via press release this morning that director Christopher Nolan has cast Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in his third and final Batman opus The Dark Knight Rises. For those who don’t know their Batman lore, Selina Kyle is Catwoman’s alter-ego, although curiously, the press release makes no mention of the word “Catwoman.” And in something of a surprise, Nolan also announced today that his Inception actor Tom Hardy will play the villain Bane, a more recent addition to Batman’s storied rogues gallery. He made a big splash in the Batman comics by breaking Bruce Wayne’s back in 1993. Hardy’s participation in The Dark Knight Rises has been previously reported (although never confirmed by the studio until today), but the widespread speculation was that he’d be playing Hugo Strange or Clayface.