The Dark Knight Rises Won't Mention The Joker, Says Chris Nolan

One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Chris Nolan's third and final Batman movie which has existed ever since the final credits rolled four years ago on "The Dark Knight" was how the sequel would deal with the fate of The Joker. Heath Ledger's sad passing earlier that year meant a re-casting would need to happen for The Joker to appear in the third movie but with Nolan deciding to keep the character alive and locked away in Arkham Asylum at the end of the previous movie and also letting us know he would never re-cast the role, we all thought the Clown Prince of Crime would AT LEAST get a mention in "The Dark Knight Rises", if not actually appearing. However as we suspected he might the moment he revealed "The Dark Knight Rises" would be set EIGHT YEARS after the events of "The Dark Knight", Chris Nolan has revealed that The Joker won't be mentioned at all in his final chapter. He told Empire magazine in a new interview;

"We're not addressing The Joker at all. That is something I felt very strongly about in terms of my relationship with Heath and the experience I went through with him on The Dark Knight". He added that "I didn't want to in any way try and account for a real-life tragedy. That seemed inappropriate to me. We just have a new set of characters and a continuation of Bruce Wayne's story. Not involving The Joker".

So we can presume except the visible and psychological scares he left on Bruce Wayne, it will be like The Joker never existed. For now then The Joker's comment; "You and I will be doing this forever" will have to exist in our imagination of the battles the two immortal enemies endured in the eight years between these two movies and perhaps beyond. The Dark Knight Rises is due in theatres July 20th, 2012.