Is Matthew Modine Playing A “Key Villain” In ‘The Dark Knight Rises’?

So it’s Monday of Memorial Day weekend which means you’ve spent the quality time with family, had way too many hot dogs at your Uncle’s BBQ, perhaps laid in the sun a bit too long and before it’s back to the daily grind at the office tomorrow, you’re using Monday afternoon to catch up on some websites or Twitter feeds you’ve been neglecting. Which may explain why this latest bit is only picking up steam now, nearly a week after it first kissed the internet.

Anyway, Roger Friedman’s Showbiz 411 (which currently appears to be offline) reported last week that Matthew Modine was set to play Nixon “a politician and a key villain” in “The Dark Knight Rises.” The report came five days after Modine was first announced to playing a character named Nixon and his report was seemingly missed by most outlets (including us).

Friedman speculates that the name is an homage to the other Nixon we all know and hate but how true this is or not remains to be seen. Friedman’s intel tends to be iffy at times — remember last year when he dubiously reported that James Franco was in the running for “The Bourne Legacy” after Tony Gilroy went to see “127 Hours“? But then again, he definitely has a fat Rolodex and lots of Hollywood connections so this could have some basis in truth and he has been on the money many times before. Our guess? Modine is a politician looking to bring Batman to “justice” for his vigilante brand of crime-fighting, but perhaps calling him a “key villain” might be a stretch. We’ve already had a politician/villain in Two-Face and we doubt Christopher Nolan would want to go down a similar road. Modine will shoot all of his scenes in a London studio if that helps in deciphering things out any more clearly.

Anyway, “The Dark Knight Rises” is currently shooting and we’ll get all of our answers on July 20, 2012.