10 Things That WILL Happen in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

By Stephen Leigh / January 22, 2013

With The Dark Knight Rises still over a year away from release and still somewhat of a big mystery - rumors and gossip continue to flood in about the hotly anticipated film as revealing set photo's are almost being churned out daily right now. And some things are starting to look increasingly inevitable. We've watched the development of the film closely and from all the hints and second-guesses we have had to make, and for a bit of fun and to increase our audiences anticipation levels (though could they really be any higher?), here€™s our list of ten things that WILL happen in The Dark Knight Rises€...Probably. POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD !

It Will End Definitively

As soon as The Dark Knight was released in 2008, Christopher Nolan was extremely vocal about his opinions on the disappointing third acts of a trilogy in the history of cinema and seemed to question whether it would be fruitful for him to make another Batman film. Strong views, but after making the film hailed as one of the greatest comic book movies and hell, sequels of all time, who can blame him? Yet for every Spider-Man 3 or Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines there are classic third acts like Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade or The Good, The Bad and the Ugly that suggest a worthy third film can be done. The director's mind was quickly changed when Jonathan Nolan and David Goyer came up with a story for Batman's final journey that convinced him to finish his trilogy and as Nolan is all about topping himself with every movie and getting bigger and better with every picture, this surely indicates that The Dark Knight Rises really has the potential to be the best in the series. While it might not have been as much of a struggle as originally thought to get him signed on for the third film, he€™s also been very keen to make it clear that this is going to be the final part. The recently released teaser trailer stated that €˜Every journey has an end€™.The two previous films have followed the Star Wars trilogy structure with a darker second act and a 'character limbo' ending, presumably leading to a third act with themes of redemption and resolution. Still, expect nothing less than an ending which will tie things up neatly, but one that won't stop anyone from continuing or expanding the universe which started with Batman Begins. Will it be a traditional happy ending or something as philosophically downbeat as the ending to Nolan€™s Inception? I doubt it. The Dark Knight Rises will start with a fall before a triumphant Batman retakes Gotham. But it will have a definitive ending, that much is sure.

Batman Will Be Broken

When you do a story set around Batman's most physical foe Bane, not including this would be sacrilege. This is the defining moment of Bane, what he is best known for... it's almost like including a Two Face story and not having him scarred down one side of his face. Part of Bane's character is what he did to Batman. As the on screen Caped Crusader faces his greatest foe yet in Tom Hardy€™s imposing Bane, only one victor is likely. In a series of comics covering the Knightfall story arc of the 90's, Bane famously broke Batman€™s back during an epic battle that shocked the DC universe. If Nolan is adapting this story, which all the signs point to him doing so and putting his own spin on it, this iconic scene HAS to and WILL happen.

The Death Of A Major Character

Nolan isn€™t afraid to kill off characters, highlighted with the deaths of Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight and the apparent offing of Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins. Let's also not forget that as Scream 3 taught us, in the third part of a trilogy, all bets are off. Anyone could be up for the chop including ol€™ bats himself. The recent teaser trailer seemingly depicted a close-to-death Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) on life support. It seems a bit odd to me that they€™d spoil such a crucial moment this early, but it certainly could be the case that a character as big as Gordon won't make it out alive. If not Jim Gordon, then who? Another rumor floating around is that Alfred (Michael Caine) and his days of scouting Burma for rubies the size of tangerines could be numbered as Bane targets those closest to Batman. Or there€™s the Caped Crusader himself or maybe Bruce Wayne will be killed off and not Batman? What seems inevitable is at least one major character death in The Dark Knight Rises and whilst we don't actually think it will be Bruce Wayne, Gordon or Alfred.... or even Catwoman.... we don't think Bane will make it out of this one alive when the Batman gets his final triumphant moment. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt's cop on Gordon's unit? I think he's toast too.

Shiny New Bat Vehicle

With the Tumbler introduced in Batman Begins and the awesome Bat-Pod in The Dark Knight, all signs point to the introduction of a new vehicle for Bruce Wayne to play with in The Dark Knight Rises. Indeed, since I started this article we've already seen set photo's of a new camouflaged Batmobile/Tumbler. The biggest rumor doing the rounds is that the film will feature some form of Batcopter. This was further substantiated after a sound operator left a message on Twitter stating that two military helicopters in the style of The Tumbler were being built for the film. It€™s easy to imagine a military attack helicopter in the style of The Tumbler; although something about it seems a little too cumbersome to follow in the footsteps of the sleek Batpod. Personally, I€™ve got my fingers crossed for the Bat-Segway.

The Return Of The Bat Growl

The bat-growl, as it€™s become collectively known, continues to be controversial. A source of amusement for many, the gravely voice; a mix of Clint Eastwood and Tom Waits, is Bale€™s way of making his Batman preserve his disguise and also put the fear of God into his foes. It does make sense and therefore is perfectly necessary, but that won€™t stop many still finding it unintentionally hilarious. It€™s even been the source of many an internet meme such as a spoof of the interrogation sequence from The Dark Knight and a mash up with Anchorman. One things for sure, despite the mixed reception to the Bat-growl, it€™s unlikely to be going anywhere. Sweearrr to meeee!

Breakout At Arkham Asylum?

How on earth do you top the sight of a huge truck being flipped over in the middle of a street? The stunts and action sequences in The Dark Knight were pretty astounding. The Dark Knight Rises will really have to up the ante in order to make the film a truly epic conclusion. It€™s sure to feature some truly jaw dropping sequences. One of these is likely to be a rumored prison breakout, perhaps the letting out of the inmates from Arkham Asylum. This has not only been seemingly confirmed by several viral videos and leaked photos but ties neatly into the Bane storyline. Could this plot crucial sequence start the film as an equivalent to The Dark Knight€™s bank robbery opening? As was the case with The Dark Knight, if you don€™t see this on a huge IMAX screen, you€™ll likely be missing out on the full experience. Cinematographer Wally Pfister has confirmed that even more of the film will be shot in the format than before and at one point the idea discussed was to shoot the whole movie in the format. Which leads us into...

The Joker Will Break Out of Arkham

One handy plot point that the break out of Arkham does for the franchise is that it gives Nolan the opportunity to leave a new director the chance to use The Joker in future installments. As the in mates are out of the asylum, all it will take is for someone to inform Gordon that - "they are all out. The Joker, Crane... all back on the streets". They don't need and won't re-cast Heath Ledger's The Joker part for this movie but they will tell us he is free again... leaving whomever takes over the franchise the opportunity to bring back the character with a new actor if he so desired. We can't imagine there'll be no mention of The Joker in the new movie and indeed there won't be. An update on his status will happen.

Anne Hathaway is CATWOMAN

Because the press releases have purposefully refereed to Anne Hathaway's part in the new movie as being Selina Kyle there has been some speculation that her anti-hero counterpart won't make an appearance in the film. Which is totally wrong. We've already heard Wally Pfister mention that he has seen Hathaway in the Catwoman costume and she looked incredible and Hathaway has only ever referred to herself as playing Catwoman and not Selina Kyle in interviews when she was asked about it. The producers and Nolan are just trying to keep things a little up in the air with the press releases. They did the same thing with Aaron Eckhart and Harvey Dent when they never once said he was playing Two-Face in official documents leading up to it's release. Don't worry folks. Hathaway will be going PURRR in the new movie and we can't wait to see her roar!

Things Will Come Full Circle To The Beginning

If there was any doubt before the trailer was released, we now know for absolute certainty that things are coming full circle for Batman in The Dark Knight Rises. The trailer begins with Liam Neeson's voiceover and indeed footage from Batman Begins, a movie we know is going to play a part in this movie by the casting of Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate - who everyone by know probably realises is actually going to be Talia Al Ghul. And as we know Josh Pence is playing a young Ra's Al Ghul and indeed that Liam Neeson has shot a cameo reprising the character... there's a definite sense of the past coming back to haunt Bats. Which leads us too;

Death and Resurrection

If you are familiar with the character of Ra's Al Ghul then you will know all about the Lazarus Pit which has already allegedly being photographed here. And what fuels Bruce Wayne's passion to be Batman? It is of course the goal to avenge his parents who were slaughtered by a Gotham criminal and to make sure what happened to him is not a fate that befalls to any other innocent children. So what if Ra's Al Ghul, a character who in the comics is immortal because of the Lazarus Pit and who might seem immortal to Bruce as he has seemingly survived death from Batman Begins - presents the idea of this pit to Bruce? Themes of death, resurrection will be a part of The Dark Knight Rises. I'm not certain Nolan will go as sci-fi as he did with his previous film The Prestige but at least in the hands of Ra's, Batman might start to wonder if he is a character who can bring back someone from the dead. _____________________ What do you think we€™ll definitely see in The Dark Knight Rises? Let us know below Check back for our list of Things That Probably WON€™T Happen In The Dark Knight Rises tomorrow. Holy follow-up Batman! (article co-written by Matt Holmes)