Christian Bale is on the cover of the upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly in full Batman gear, for the cover feature on The Dark Knight Rises.

Bale and director Christopher Nolan are both quoted in the issue, which goes on sale January 13. Here are a couple of - potentially spoilerish - highlights from the piece:

• The Batcave is definitely back.

• The Dark Knight Rises, as has been previously reported, takes place eight years after Batman Begins.

• Batman and Jim Gordon's cover-up of Harvey Dent's crimes are a crucial motivating factor for the events of DKR.

• In answer to the issue of Bane's voice, and whether it will be difficult to understand, to the detriment of the movie, Nolan has this to say:

“I think when people see the film, things will come into focus,” says the director. “Bane is very complex and very interesting and when people see the finished film people will be very entertained by him.”