Lazarus Pit and Young Ras al Ghul

With the Dark Knight Rises already a week and some change into production, we can clearly get a grip as to what is definitely NOT in the movie and reconfigure what might be.  For starters, let's begin with the confirmed characters and reconsider some older rumors that now have some merit.

Juno Temple has been added to the cast as a character called "Holly Robinson."  Those familiar with the comics know that in Batman:Year One, Holly Robinson is a prostitute and is close friends with Selina Kyle.  One of the rumors suggests that Catwoman will not make an appearance, but there will be a setup (as in sequels) for future stories.  Don't get your panties in a bunch, though, Nolan has stated that this will be his final installment.  Instead, think of this being a complete origin setup so that by the end of Rises, Batman will be as well all know it.

Joseph-Gordan Levitt has been confirmed for a cop on the hunt for ending corruption.  This means that all roles set aside for him that were villainous are now out the window.  This allows the villains confirmed (Bane and Ras al Ghul) to take more of the focus rather than diluting it with an over-abundance of bad guys.  It also suggests his role will be more of a support role to Commissioner Gordon and a secondary-supporting role to Batman.  In shorter terms, he won't be a main character.

This brings us to Josh Pence.  This is the kid playing a younger version of Ras al Ghul.  Keep this in mind when we consider the following rumors that have sprouted up in the Internets.

Okay, rumor one: Josh Pence is playing a younger Ras, but not a younger in years, younger in appearance.  There are pictures on the Internet of the Lazarus pit.  Do a Google search for "Dark Knight Rises Lazarus Pit" and you'll see literally 1,000s of them.  In Batman Begins, Ras was jettisoned from the back of the train car.  As an audience, we didn't actually see him die.  The rumor suggests that his body was taken from the wreckage and brought to the Lazarus Pit, rejuvenating the body and healing itself.  In essence, the character of Ras al Ghul is back to again wreak havoc against Batman.  The downside to this rumor is that it goes against the anti-supernatural theme set in place by Nolan.

Rumor two:  This is the more likely scenario.  Younger Ras is portrayed in a flashback.

But hold up.  If Nolan is avoiding the supernatural, why include the Lazarus Pit at all?

That, my friends, is the real question.  Some suggest that it is merely a spring with bacteria that act like white-blood cells.  Knowing Nolan, it'll probably be some extremely logical manipulation of an object that benefits his vision (think about the sonar abilities in cell-phones from TDK).

How do you think Nolan will make the Lazarus Pit believable?

Possible Details Released

Here's some info I found dated March 2, 2011.

It seems that there is a possible leak (or false spoilers) coming from those working on The Dark Knight Rises.  It's marked as "spoilers" rather than "rumors."  But, we all know not to feed into false prophesies.

In either case, this is the news:

Catwoman WILL be in the film, but not necessarily as a villain.  She will be more so a force that works with Batman rather than against him.

The main force of corruption you ask?

The League of Shadows.  Bane, from the comics, was a member and probably the only person on Earth that can match Bruce Wayne punch for punch.  With Ras al Ghul confirmed as to NOT being in the picture, the website that released this info states that the League will be led by Talia Al Ghul.  Joseph Gordan-Levitt will also be associated with the League, possibly as Black Mask.

So here's the breakdown.

We discussed earlier that too many villains can be anti-clamatic and lead to the destruction of a film (in more or less words...).  With Catwoman marked as a force working with Batman, that frees up some room for the villainry.  We're looking currently at Bane, Talia al Ghul, the League of Shadows, Black Mask, police, and the Mob (with possible encounters from Scare Crow, Holliday Killer, among others).

Forces for Good stand with Batman, Commissioner Gordan, and Catwoman.  We're looking now at a full out war with the following end result happening:

Batman's Rise.

In the title, it has to happen.

Don't Be Two-Faced About It

So, things have been kept close to the chest for the last few weeks.  Nothing truly new has come out other than repeats of the usual.

We can take light in the fact that we know a few things with absolute certainty.  We know Selina Kyle will be in the movie.  We know Bane is not the characture character like in the Batman and Robin movie from the late 90s.  We also know the script for Rises makes Nolan's vision a perfect trilogy.

We also know Two-Face is done.  "But wait," you say, "We already knew that.  Nolan even told Aaron Eckhart (when asked about Harvey Dent's appearance in the third movie, after TDK was released in theaters) that Harvey Dent was dead.  Why is this making news?"

Well, it seems that Aaron Eckhart still hasn't given up his conviction that Dent should be in Rises.  In a recent interview, he was asked about his noninvolvement with Rises, to which he replied sarcastically "I sucker-punched Chris [Nolan]."

Now, I'm assuming that there a few of us that have read the Batman comics.  Harvey Dent, in The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller is portrayed alive and well, and still insane.  This comic takes place well into the future, when Bruce Wayne is old and beaten down by life, looking for one last hoorah as Batman.

In either case, Aaron Eckhart's persistency is interesting.  It's borderline admirable and annoying.  Here's my reasoning: In the comics, Dent lives on.  So, that said, in a well-received version of the saga made for the silver screen, Dent should also live.  This would be true to the comics, since Nolan himself is quoted to saying "This is an early version of Batman."

But come on.  Nolan said Dent was dead ages ago.  Give it up people.

Bane in the Arse

Tom Hardy, you are a saint.

In a recent interview with Tom Hardy, he revealed to the world that Nolan's version of the character Bane will not be like the version portrayed in Batman and Robin, by Joel Schumacher.  I'm pretty sure that the majority of us were able to figure that out by ourselves, but it's just nice to know 100% from the actor playing the role.

He did, however, say that the characters will both be the same size.  SO.  If you'd to know what Tom Hardy is going to look like as Bane, photoshop his face onto the Bane from Batman and Robin.

Batman Jong Il?

Okay, this is short and sweet.  You can't even really qualify this as real Batman news, but I thought it was funny as hell.

Kim Jong Il, of North Korea, promises to abandon his country's nuclear program in exchange for having the lead role in the next Batman movie.

That's it.

...I know, right?

So What's the Deal, Pittsburgh?

It's all about one thing in business:

Location, location, location.

You won't need to tell that to Chris Nolan as he scouts his locations for TDKR.  Pittsburgh, a recent addition to the rumored list of possible cities to appear in the movie as Gotham, was taken off the rumored list almost as quickly as it had appeared.  Here's the scoop:  as soon as Pittsburgh wasn't a major online interest to the online community, Nolan himself appears there with his team looking over (what some believe to be) a map of the city.

That is a fact.  That happened.

Here is where the rumor kicks in.  The rumor is that the so-called "map" Nolan and his team were looking at was directing them to possible scouting locations within Pittsburgh to film some areas as Gotham.

So what's the deal, Pittsburgh?  Are you first jumping the gun by releasing some privileged info, then immediately retracting the info saying it's false, then going ahead and releasing a photo of Nolan in your city while on "business?"

Here's what I think:

I believe Pittsburgh will have a scene or two in Rises.  It's as simple as that.  Shooting starts in just over two months, so Nolan needs to not be selecting possible cities and needs to be selecting areas within cities.  He needs to be finding the rights scenes for the backdrop, not the silhouette of a skyline.  Those days are long since passed.

Let's all anticipate the Caped Crusader himself to fall into the Pitts.

Lukas Haas Attacks!

Ok, screw the corny "Mars Attacks!" joke.

Here are the latest versions of the DKR rumors to start circulating.  Starting with the "confirmed" roles:  Marion Cotillard as Talia Al Ghul and Joseph Gordan-Levitt as Roman Sionis.  I can see it, but only just.  With Bane, Selina Kyle, Talia Al Ghul, Black Mask, the Mob, as well as other villains, there seems to be an overwhelming amount of villainry going on around here.

So let's add to the chaos.

Lukas Haas, a cast member of Inception, and who is probably best known for his role in "Mars Attacks!" (at least for me), is rumored to be in talks for the role of Alberto Falcone.  I'm not going to lie here.  I've seen the comic book versions of Alberto, and to be honest, this would be a better casting choice for this role than Gordan-Levitt.  Haas just has the traditional comic-book look of Alberto.  Though, I don't feel that this role will be very large.  You can't have a million villains all with their own agendas.  It' anticlimatic.

Casting Gordan-Levitt as Black Mask could be interesting.  That said, I'm not sure the fitting of this role into Nolan's vision.  I had figured Alberto Falcone would be the perfect tie for all three Batman films.  Black Mask seems to be more of an after-thought to me.

Who knows.

Thats why I'm not the one writing the script.