TDK RISES NEWS

Nolan Reveals When 'The Dark Knight Rises' is Set + New Bane Cover

by Alex Billington
November 21, 2011
Source: Empire

"Brutal." Boy, Empire is milking this TDKR piece, but I can't blame them, this is good stuff. Following up the cover debuts over the weekend, Empire has posted a few snippets of quotes from the inside of the issue that features director Christopher Nolan talking about some details from The Dark Knight Rises you might want to hear. On top of that, as expected, an alternate cover shot of Tom Hardy as Bane has showed up (see below in full) and more scans of photos from inside are hitting, so expect to see more posts about this Empire TDKR reveal soon. For now, Nolan first reveals how long after The Dark Knight this picks up.

Don't worry, none of this is really a spoiler, beyond just basic information that we've finally been waiting to hear about when this takes place. Nolan tells the mag: "It's really all about finishing Batman and Bruce Wayne's story. We left him in a very precarious place. Perhaps surprisingly for some people, our story picks up quite a bit later, eight years after The Dark Knight. So he's an older Bruce Wayne; he's not in a great state." Very interesting choice, but I know a few who'll be pleased to see this much of a leap; it's necessary, and there was a similar time jump between Batman Begins and TDK anyway - that's how Nolan likes his sequels. Speaking of, the villain in this is going to give Batman everything he's got, no holds barred.

"With Bane, we're looking to give Batman a challenge he hasn't had before. With our choice of villain and with our choice of story we're testing Batman both physically as well as mentally." Awesome. Hardy already looks like a badass, but for anyone concerned about that facial mask he's wearing and why he even has it, the costume designer explains later. First, let's hear Hardy tell us just how badass he's going to be:

"He's brutal. Brutal. He's a big dude who's incredibly clinical, in the fact that he has a result-based and oriented fighting style. It's not about fighting. It's about carnage. The style is heavy-handed, heavy-footed, it's nasty. Anything from small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages, stamping on shins and knees and necks and collarbones and snapping heads off and tearing his fists through chests, ripping out spinal columns. He is a terrorist in mentality as well as brutal action."

Damn, that sounds intense already. And a bit scary, which is why this guy is going to be quite a challenge for Batman. Speaking of that challenge, his mask is actually part of the reason why he can kick so much ass. Costume designer Lindy Hemming also revealed this tidbit to Empire about Bane's backstory: "He was injured early in his story. He's suffering from pain and needs gas to survive. He can't survive the pain without the mask. The pipes from the mask go back along his jawline and feed into the thing at his back, where there are two cannisters." So basically he can just pump pain-killer, anesthesia, into himself all day, nothing will stop him, no matter what Batman throws at him. Definitely a "challenge he hasn't had before."

While there are more photos inside the latest Empire issue, check out this new Bane cover for subscribers:

This looks much better than that bland actual Bane cover we saw this weekend. The last little tidbit Nolan dropped was a confirmation about the prologue. And it's everything you're expecting to see, in less than a month. It will be "basically the first six, seven minutes of the film" and will serve as "an introduction to Bane, and a taste of the rest of the film." I cannot wait, I was already incredibly excited, but as I was hoping, I think this is going to be some footage of Bane showing us how destructive/powerful he is - all in glorious 70mm IMAX. I'm sure there's more details to come from the Empire update, but that's all for now.

In a separate update on ibnlive, Christian Bale also gave some quotes about his work on TDKR and where the journey will be taking his character in the end. He gives a rather deep answer, so I'll quote him in full:

"How long will you let the pain and loss define your life? Walking around chasing bad guys is very heroic and attracts attention, but at the end it all accounts for, as a means to deal with the pain of a huge loss. We agreed that Bruce Wayne is absolutely sincere as Bruce Wayne, and as Batman utterly sincere but Bruce Wayne, the playboy, is a pure facade, it's a lie he has, somehow, to control one side of your soul that's not really under control.

In fact, only Alfred knows who he is. It's time for Bruce Wayne to face the pain, that has always stirred his life."

Whoa. I almost feel like that's a voiceover from the trailer that Bruce is giving for real, either way just as powerful, it's coming from the same guy anyway. I'm beyond excited for The Dark Knight Rises, of course, and I'm expecting nothing less than sheer brilliance, but it's always great to hear quotes like this. Sounds like they've really hit something major to bring this Batman saga to an end. As for how epic this will be, Bale also talks about the production: "Shooting in seven different locations, chosen by Nolan was a pleasure. It's really a privilege to work well, especially with the extraordinary troupe of actors, who always manage to meet Chris' expectations." Besides Bale & Tom Hardy, the troupe also includes Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman and many others.

Head over to Empire for all of the quotes and to wait for more updates from their big TDKR fall reveal issue. I'm curious to hear the feedback on all this information and the recent cover shots anyway. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises will arrive in theaters next summer on July 20th, 2012, with a six-minute IMAX prologue and first full-length trailer launching in front of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol starting December 16th. Can't wait to see it! We'll keep you updated.

Filed under Feat, Movie News, Photos, TDKR

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