The Dark Knight Rises

The next Christopher Nolan Batman movie is apparently going to be called The Dark Knight Rises. That seems like an odd title to me, as they already did a movie called The Dark Knight. You'd think they'd want keep the names clearly delineated.

Anyway, there's word about the film in the news today: apparently Nolan has picked someone to play Catwoman and -- get this -- Bane. Catwoman is not really all that big of a surprise. She's an integral part of the Batman mythos and it's not surprising that she'd show up before Nolan finishes his little "trilogy."

But Bane is a big surprise as far as casting news goes. I have some difficulty figuring out how he'll fit into the "realistic" world that Nolan has created. I could see Hugo Strange or Black Mask being made to work -- and I figured one of them was going to be the villain. In some ways Bane doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense.

That said, when you look at it another way it makes perfect sense. When we last left Nolan's Gotham City Batman was a fugitive. He's outside of the law, not trusted by anyone but Gordan. In the process of ostracizing himself Batman has cleaned up Gotham.

But what happens when someone comes from the outside to stir things up in Gotham City? Surely Gotham's "Bat-Man" has become famous by now. I can see Bane as a character who comes in from the outside to stir up trouble, forcing the people of the city to rally to Batman again.

Still, I can't help but think that Hugo Strange would make a better villain, considering the point we are in this story arc. It's very similar to where one of my all time favorite stories Prey starts out. That story, unsurprisingly, features Prof. Hugo Strange.

Regardless, Nolan clearly has some interesting plans for The Dark Knight Rises. As much as I might like certain things, I can say I'll be happier in the long run if I'm surprised...