First Look at Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman!

Hot on the heels of first look at the new Superman, Warner Brothers has released a new photo from the set of The Dark Knight Rises.  Here is our first look at Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle!

Hey Bruce, she stole your bike.

She sports the black suit, but it looks like the filmmakers are choosing not to go with the cat-ear cowl.  However, those look to be a new, high-tech take on the goggles worn by the character in recent years.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises also stars Christain Bale, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Cotillard.  It hits theaters on July 20th, 2012.

Alberto Falcone In 'The Dark Knight Rises'

[UPDATED]

We've kept you apprised of the various casting news of Christopher Nolan's third entry into his wildly successful Batman franchise, and today's no different.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt's secretive role in the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises has been revealed:  Alberto Falcone.  Yep, I can see it.

Left: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (credit: Caryn Loveless); Right: Alberto Falcone from Batman: Long Halloween

Son of Carmine Falcone (portrayed by Tom Wilkinson in Batman Begins), Alberto Falcone is the black sheep of the Falcone organized crime family. While he bears no lack of desire to join the family business, Alberto's slight stature and unassuming nature made him ill-equipped, his family believed, to perform the duties expected of a prince in the Falcone family of crime.

However, in the acclaimed graphic novel Batman: The Long Halloween, Falcone's deep jealousies of his more favored siblings took to light as Falcone became the Holiday Killer (one of them, anyway) and singlehandedly took down rival gang members all over Gotham.

Will the Holiday Killer show up in The Dark Knight Rises?  Nolan has continued his commitment to create a Batman universe firmly trenched in believable reality -- and what is more believable than a vicious crime boss? With Bane (Tom Hardy), Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), and (possibly) Talia al Ghul already in the cards, though, Gotham might already be a little too crowded for the Holiday Killer.

The Dark Knight Rises grapple hooks its way into theatres on July 20, 2012.

Update on March 21, 2011 at 5:16 PM by Dwight Tejano

Aaaaand let the speculation begin anew.  Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Variety's intial break of this story might not be all that accurate.  EW, unfortunately, does not offer up any alternatives, citing only that "a source close to the situation" says the reports are false.

Ah, well.

The Bat-Villains Rise

Warner Brothers has announced Christopher Nolan's selections for the villains in The Dark Knight Rises.  Anne Hathaway has been chosen to portray Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, opposite Christian Bale in Nolan's third and final Batman film.  With the departure of the Rachel Dawes character in the The Dark Knight, it had been assumed by many that Selina would be introduced in the next installment.  However, previous speculation raised the question if Selina would appear as Catwoman in the film.  Since this is Nolan's last time at the helm on the Bat-franchise, it is more than likely that we will see Hathaway in the famous black suit.  (No purple.  I'm expecting a take on Jim Lee's Catwoman, goggles and all!)

On the heels on this announcement, Tom Hardy, who had been cast a few months ago in an unknown role, has been confirmed as Bane, the juiced-up villain whose mostly notable contribution to Bat-history was breaking Batman's back in 1993.  According to Nolan, it is a "new interpretation of one of Batman's most formidable enemies."  With Nolan's direction, I am hopeful that we will see something closer to the proper Bane on screen, rather than the mindless hulk ripoff that appeared in Joel Schumacher's 1997 fiasco, Batman & Robin.

We know that multiple villains is a bit of a juggling act sometimes (see Spider-Man 3), but if Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are any indication, Christopher Nolan knows how to pace his films.  I doubt we will see Catwoman and Bane conspiring together at any point.  Plus, with Selina as the new romantic interest for Bale's Bruce Wayne, I'm sure the tension/romance will carry over between their masked alter egos as well.  It is a character dynamic that has been dealt with for many years in Batman lore, most notably in Jeph Loeb's "Batman: Hush" comic from 2002.

With this sequel slated to hit screens in the Summer of 2012, The Dark Knight Rises adds more power to what is shaping up to be another superhero-filled year.  The film joins the reboot of fellow Warner Brothers franchise, Superman, as well as Marvel's comic opus, The Avengers in forming what will be another blockbuster Summer.

The Dark Knight Rises is due in theaters on July 20th, 2012.