After what seemed like an eternity of false leads, rumors, fake scripts, and speculation, at least two of the villains from the third Bat-film have been revealed. Tom Hardy will step into Bane's massive shoes, while Ann Hathaway will squeeze into Catwoman's costume, but where do things go from here?
Though we know the two key villains, I have the feeling that there are still plenty of roles to be filled in this film. Of course, now the story theories will start flying. Will Catwoman be used as a villain or hero? Will Bane be the central villain or just the muscle for someone else? Will this follow the "Knightfall" storyline? Even though the villain speculation is done, I think the rumors will only increase as the film grows closer to its release date.
First we'll look at Bane. I'm glad he's being used as a villain again seeing how poorly he was treated in "Batman and Robin" (he almost made the list in my previous article, "Ten Great Comic Book Villains Ruined By Hollywood"). I think that if anyone can do him justice, it's Nolan. Bane can easily be just the "muscle" for another bad guy. Bane has the potential to be the central villain. In the comics, Bane is not only physically imposing, but is extremely ruthless and intelligent making him a worthy foe for the Batman.
As for the story, I don't think this will follow the "Knightfall" storyline, or if it does it will be very loosely. In "Knightfall," Bane comes to Gotham and ends up breaking Batman's back, leading Jean-Paul Valley to take over the cape and cowl while Bats recuperates. Frankly, while it's an epic story, I can't see their cramming it all into one movie. Bane's motivations in this movie can be the same as in "Knightfall": He comes to Gotham to make a name for himself, and which better way to do so than break the Bat? This would lead to an interesting cat-and-mouse game among Bane and Bats while also avoiding the cliche "Mobster hires Bane to take out Batman" plot.
As for Catwoman, there are many different avenues they could take her. They could have her as a cat burglar following Batman's example of theatricality, or as a new vigilante coming to help clean up the streets of Gotham. I think they'll go with Catwoman being in a gray area, helping Batman at some points but also hindering in others., Ultimately she'll be doing whatever is needed to achieve her own goals.
The big thing I'm curious about is the costuming. TDK made it clear that Nolan isn't above tweaking his character's looks in order to make them fit into his Bat-world. I think we'll see more of that in this film. With Catwoman, I'll be surprised if she is wearing the leather catsuit. I can see her movie costume being something like in Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One," something she threw together at home from clothes she found lying around.
As for Bane, I can see his keeping the face mask, though possibly making it more of a ski mask or helmet type. Of course, when you think Bane, you think of his dependency on the drug Venom. This has been something I've been wondering how they will handle in the movie. I don't think Venom will be like in the comics where Bane takes it and instantly grows muscles mas--maybe just more like a steroid or performance enhancer that makes him stronger for a short period of time. Or the movie will omit Venom entirely and just have Bane as a physically imposing villain out to get Batman.
As you can see, this is just a bit of speculation right here. I'm sure that as time goes on more and more rumors will pop up, especially as more secondary characters are revealed Vicki Vale, Sarah Essen, and Black Mask could still very well be in this movie. However, much like Nolan's previous movies, I'm sure we won't really know what the movie will be until July 20, 2012.