Anne Hathaway to play Selina Kyle; Tom Hardy will be Bane in 'The Dark Knight Rises'

Batman fans, this is a big one. Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan announced today that Anna Hathaway will be portraying Selina Kyle (and, presumably, her alter-ago, Catwoman) in the Nolan-directed The Dark Knight Rises, due in theaters on July 20th, 2012. Nolan also revealed Inception scene-stealer Tom Hardy’s role in the new film: he’ll be playing the villainous Bane.

I’m absolutely stunned by this news. I had been assuming, for one reason or another, that Catwoman was not being considered as a potential character in The Dark Knight Rises. I figured we’d have heard something. Then, I remembered: Christopher Nolan is the king of film secrecy. We can speculate all we want on the Riddler and Talia al Ghul and Vicki Vale, but chances are we’re totally off. Today proved that.

After the initial shock and surprise, I was very happy with the news. Nolan had already told us that the Riddler would not be in the movie, a revelation I was very happy to hear (he’s too similar to the Joker). However, after hearing rumors of Jessica Biel, Eva Green and Keira Knightley being considered for roles like Talia al Ghul and Vicki Vale, I suddenly wished we’d hear some more rumors about Johnny Depp playing the Riddler. This would be a safe, marketable choice.

Hathaway’s Catwoman might not be as marketable as Depp as the Riddler, but it’s arguably the next-best choice, at least where finances are concerned. Most of the members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery (at least the ones who lend themselves to Nolan’s style) have been seen in the recent films already. Catwoman is a very recognizable character, and I think we’ve had enough time to recover from 2004’s horrendously campy Catwoman, in which Halle Berry delivered a Razzie-winning performance in the titular role. Hathaway is also a very marketable star and a talented actress, too. She was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for her work in the 2008 film Rachel Getting Married.


Tom Hardy playing Bane is huge news as well. For those who don’t know, Bane is a villain created for the “Knightfall” story arc back in 1993. An orphan born in a Central American prison, Bane was forced by a corrupt government to serve out a sentence in place of his father, a revolutionary who escaped the court system. Bane was given a classical education in prison, and developed astonishing physical abilities as well. He eventually became a test subject for a drug called “Venom”, which even further enhanced his physical power.

There’s a quick rundown of Bane, courtesy of his Wikipedia page. Hardy should be perfect in the role, even though he’s British and Bane is usually portrayed as Hispanic. Hardy did a wonderful job playing a prisoner in Bronson; that should transfer over quite well here.

Bane is not a very well-known character, which is fine; Catwoman is plenty recognizable. He was, however, the instigator of a very pivotal moment in the Batman canon: he broke Batman’s back, as pictured above. To me, it would only make sense to feature this in the film. Bane is often thought of as the first villain to truly best the Batman; it would be logical to have this moment in the third film, but who knows if it’ll be in there.

Another interesting tidbit: according to the Wikipedia page, Bane operated in Gotham City during a time in which fear ruled; specifically, fear of Batman. Considering the ending of The Dark Knight, that doesn’t sound too far-fetched for Rises. Interestingly, Bane caught the attention of the League of Assassins (the League of Shadows in Batman Begins) and Ra’s al Ghul following the Knightfall arc. Ra’s al Ghul died in Batman Begins, but his comic book counterpart has a penchant for coming back from the dead. This seems a little outlandish for a Nolan-directed Batman film, but it could be a lead-in for Talia al Ghul, who hasn’t been ruled out yet as a possible player in The Dark Knight Rises.

For me, this is where the true excitement starts. We’ll probably see some official pics sometime in the next four or five months, and I honestly can’t wait for the inevitable trailer. We have our players, at least a few of them, and now the real speculation can begin.