Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway & Keira Knightley In The Mix; Tom Hardy Reportedly Playing A Villain
Here we go again. We probably could have broken this story ourselves as every one of these names have cropped up in recent casting rounds, but the most intriguing part of this story are not the names attached, but the revelation that Christopher Nolan is seeking two female leads for “The Dark Knight Rises“: one, a love interest for Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), the other, for a villain. This really only leaves a few possibilities for the potential foe of Batman (unless Nolan is going really obscure): Catwoman, Poison Ivy or as some of our readers have suggested, Talia al Ghul.
The familiar crop of names from casting roundups for “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo,” “Gravity” and the “Alien” prequel are in the mix again with Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley all being listed as potential contenders. Whoever is cast will apparently team up with Tom Hardy who Deadline report will also be playing a baddie giving Batman a double dose of villainy. Interestingly, the names of Charlize Theron, Vera Farmiga and Kacie Thomas that cropped up earlier are noticeably absent. They were reportedly vying for the roles of Sarah Essen and Julie Madison but that rumor may have turned out to be total bunk.
The multiple villain tactic in superhero films is always a gambit but if anyone can pull it off without watering down the film or thinning out the plot, it’s Nolan. Of course, we’ve had our own thoughts on the who the male villain should be given that all that we do know, it’s not going to be the Riddler. We suppose this means more casting rumors and names being thrown in the ring over the next days and weeks and publicists getting on phone to pimp their clients, but this much we now know: “The Dark Knight Rises” will have two villains, one male and one female. Who would you like it to be? [Deadline]
I\’d like to see Sarah Polley playing Catwoman. I\’ve no idea why, I just really would.
I would bet on Talia, Catwoman\’s already been overdone in \”Batman Returns\” and that abomination that cannot be mentioned. Maybe he will use Talia as a sort of bridge to the first film?
harley quinn
Catwoman is going to be in this. The main villain will be someone we\’ve never seen on the big screen before and Catwoman/Selina will be more like an untrustworthy femme fatale for Bruce, a temptation for him to stay on the wrong side of the law and break the rules to get what he wants.
Weisz would be great as this kind of Catwoman. She could do like Ledger did and in no way try to \”outdo\” the iconic performance of the previous person who played their role, but instead take a huge left turn and create a new angle on the character so that comparing would be like comparing apples and oranges.
I\’d still like to see Hardy as a detective hunting Batman and butting heads with Gordon over it, because he suspects Gordon is still in contact with him.
Talia could be cool as a love interest. Maybe Bruce doesn\’t find out who she truly is until she tries to kill him for revenge. Or maybe she contemplates it, but comes to love Bruce and chooses not to do it….
Michelle Pfeiffer\’s ass hugging leathers are big pants to fill. Her performance is so indelible (let\’s just forget Halle Berry\’s abomination) that it\’s going to take a supremely talented actress to match it, or possibly even top it. Can one of these lovely ladies do for Catwoman what Heath Ledger did for The Joker?
I\’ve a feeling Hardy will be playing \”Calendar Man\” (and, possibly, this could have a Holiday Killer angle) and that the femme lead will probably play Harley Quinn (thus giving The Joker (still alive at the end of \”The Dark Knight\”) a kind of on-screen presence even though he\’d be off-screen due to actor Heath Ledger\’s death).
Rachel Weisz+sexy leather+sassy attitude = perfect Catwoman.
Hm, let\’s see… white, white, white, white, white, white or white.
I don\’t know how to pick between all this diversity.
Rachel Weisz and Anne Hathaway are the best choices here.
What about a girl as Harley Quinn. Instead of the angle where she is in love with and dating the joker she can be an obsessive fan girl or she could still fall in love with him at arkham we just never see or hear the joker and shes is trying to impress him.
I would love to see Hardy as Tommy Elliot(Hush) or a toned-down Bane.
Must you use a term like \’love interest\’? Does your girlfriend exist in real life merely as your \’love interest\’?
I think Naomi Watts would make a good catwoman. But for Talia I would pick Kate Beckinsale, she kinda looks like the comic book.
Can\’t wait to see who Hardy will be though.
Deadline isn\’t confirming Hardy as a villain. They\’re speculating.
Hardy as Bullock seems fine, I\’d buy it, but it doesn\’t quite fit. Hardy is a name in film now, and I can\’t imagine that character is going to be huge in the film, if he\’s in it at all. Plus he just doesn\’t fit the character. How Bullock was portrayed in the animated series and the 1989 Batman was perfect. Sure, Nolan is changing things up, but Hardy as Bullock doesn\’t seem likely in all honesty.
Rachel Weisz and Anne Hathaway are the only good actors on that list.
I am going to buy a hat and then eat it if Tom Hardy isn\’t playing Harvey Bullock.
And I agree that Talia is a likely fit. Way more so than Poison Ivy.
Catwoman could work well as part of Black Mask\’s False Face masked gang, if Black Mask does turn out to be the villain.
Hardy doesn\’t have to be playing a villain. He\’d be a better protagnist anyways, as an ally to Batman/Bruce since he\’s now an outcast and needs low-level friends, like what Hardy was in Inception.
A third female villain is Talia al Ghul, and she would make the most sense since they\’ve done Ras in the first film and she\’s a love interest for Bruce, which he\’s in need of for this film now. Bringing her into the mix is a good way to bring Ra\’s character/storyline around and is a perfect way to close the saga where is began.
And taking Charlize Theron, Vera Farmiga and Kacie Thomas names out could mean they\’ve now cast the role with one of those women and haven\’t announced it yet or Nolan\’s met with them and decided not to cast any. Or they could have just been rumors in the first place.
I\’m surprised no one has mentioned Clayface as a villain yet. I\’m not talking the huge orange hulking shapshifter, but instead the realistic idenity-changer, similar to what he was in the animated series – an actor who can imitate anyone with advanced prostetics/make-up and method acting/impressions (\’Darkman\’ style). Something realistic like that is right up Hardy\’s alley. And if they include that in the storyline, it could work with the \’Batman as a fugitive\’ angle in some way (\’Blade Trinity\’ style, although a bad movie co-writer Goyer made).
Just some thoughts…
I think Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Charlize Theron and Vera Farmiga are the only decent options. \’
BRB just imagining Rachel Weisz as Catwoman.
Sorry, we\’ll be clarifying, but in Deadline\’s report they report that Tom Hardy will indeed be playing a villain.
Why are you guys so sure that Tom Hardy is playing a villain? Do you know something we don\’t?