5. The Joker Will Be Recast
Speculation: Given Heath Ledger's unprecedented success in The Dark Knight, earning a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor - indeed, the first for any superhero film - there was the feeling that there was more of his character that we were meant to see, and that, had he lived, The Joker might have figured prominently as a peripheral villain. His character is easily the most iconic of Batman's rogues gallery, and to many, he is considered simply a character too good to leave alone. Early speculation suggested that The Joker would be recast, many intimating that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who had already starred in Nolan's Inception, might be a fine choice, given his fair physical resemblance to Lodger.
Fact: This was speedily dismissed by Christopher Nolan's camp; they shut this one down by staunchly declaring that it simply would not happen, and frankly, I doubt too many of us were surprised. Though Nolan recast Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, Rachel was not an especially iconic character, nor one who was played with a particularly memorable style by Katie Holmes in the first instance. Nolan respectfully wished to steer clear of milking Heath Ledger's memory, wanting to build a feature that stood on its own two feet, and in fact, you'll find no verbal references to The Joker at all in The Dark Knight Rises.