New pictures have surfaced of Tom Hardy in full costume as Bane on the set of the Dark Knight Rises. It's a slightly different look from the Bane who broke the Bat in the comics, but it's pretty badass looking. I honestly can't see Hardy needing security, if I saw him in an alley I would run! Mind you, I'm sure he has security. And gophers, and masseuses. And if they're late, you know what happens, right?

And that's the first warning! You screw up twice, he gets really rough!

No, but I'm sure Hardy's a swell guy. Here he is looking terrifying, however.

You might remember Taiwan's Next Media Animation from CRAZY. More specifically, their crazy takes on topics ranging from the disaster-ridden Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark to that guy who did that yucky thing in the yogurt.

They've turned their attention to the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, and as is their way, they veer a little bit off-topic. There's stuff about the economy, Wal-Mart, and for some reason short-shorts Robin and Halle Berry Catwoman make an appearance. Don't ask why, just enjoy.

Christopher Judge himself made the announcement on Twitter:

No word yet on what role he'll be playing, but it's a great addition to the ever-growing cast of fan-favorites in Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman movie.

I'm just gonna leave this here.

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Here it is at long last, the first poster for Christopher Nolan's upcoming third and final movie in the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight Rises. And word is, there will be a short teaser premiering in a few days, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

The countdown to Summer 2012 has begun...!

Josh Stewart (The Collector) has officially joined the ever-growing cast of The Dark Knight Rises. Presumably he will bring the same superhero zazz to Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman movie as he has the smash hit television show No Ordinary Family.

Ahem!

Stewart has also appeared in many other television shows, including Criminal Minds and Third Watch.

It's not known at this time what role he will play, but this cast just keeps on growing. Stewart joins many newcomers to the Batman franchise: Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Josh Pence, Juno Temple, Matthew Modine, Tom Conti, Joey King, Brett Cullen, Chris Ellis, Daniel Sunjata, Diego Klattenhoff and Burn Gorman.

The Dark Knight Rises premieres on July 20, 2012.

Wayne Manor bit the dust in the first of Christopher Nolan's Batman films, Batman Begins - and  Bruce Wayne ended that film with a commitment to rebuild. But since then he's been busy with Joker, Two-Face, and all manor of wackiness. Now, the time has come for a new Wayne Manor to, uh, rise.

From Screen Rant:

Batman on Film has gotten wind of the news that Wollaton Hall – a 16th-century mansion-turned natural history museum in Nottingham, England – will apparently serve as the new Wayne Manor in Dark Knight Rises. This speculation was set off by an announcement on the official Nottingham city site saying that Wollaton Hall will be closed for a two-week period at the end of this month, “in order to enable a film to have exclusive access to the site.”

However, it seems that Osterley Park in West London, not Wollaton Hall, will actually be used for the interior shots of Wayne Manor. That is perhaps all the more fitting, given that the interiors of the latter no longer readily resemble the inside of a live-in mansion – even though, from the outside, Wollaton Hall is an almost perfect match for Mentmore Towers, which “played” the original Wayne Manor in Batman Begins.

A full year before the film's July 20, 2012 release date, the Dark Knight Rises promotion machine is already running on all cylinders. Following the recent, brilliant, Bane reveal stunt, today Warners has released four new viral videos.

The videos depict a Gotham in chaos and in dire need of a hero - oh, and they also direct users to the new DKR Facebook page.

Check 'em out, and just try to tell me that you're not dying to see Christopher Nolan's final entry in the Batman franchise. Looks like he's going out with a bang.

Matthew Modine - Full Metal Jacket's "Private Joker" (no relation) - has joined the cast of The Dark Knight Rises, in an as-yet unnamed role.

Despite the fact that the film is officially in production as of last week, Modine is one of three new cast members announced yesterday, along with Tom Conti and 11-year-old Joey King (Ramona and Beezus).

Nolan's keeping mum on the roles of all new cast members for now, but as much as I'm a fan of Modine it's the casting of King that has me most intrigued.

Dare we hope...?