Batman 3 to be titled The Dark Knight Rises, will NOT feature the Riddler

By Ryan Fleming October 27, 2010

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Wow, actual details about the next Batman film! And from director Christopher Nolan himself! It must be Christmas somewhere. The notoriously tightlipped director recently spoke to the LA Times and confirmed the title of the next Batman film- The Dark Knight Rises– and also eliminated the Riddler as the villain.

To be fair, the idea of the Riddler as a character was purely based on guesswork from fans, and nothing that Nolan himself did or said. In fact, the script has only recently been completed, so any details that did not come directly from Nolan, his brother Jonah who co-wrote the screenplay, or David Goyer who worked on the original story must be viewed with a grain of salt.

The Riddler rumors hit a peak earlier this month when it was announced that Tom Hardy had been cast in “a lead role”. To be clear, it is not certain who Hardy will play, or if he is even playing a villain, but to the denizens of the intertubes it all seemed to fit together nicely. So back to the drawing board on whom Hardy will play. Some of the filming is set to occur in New Orleans, leading to further speculation that Hardy might play a more realistic version of Killer Croc.

Nolan also stated that he will not film in 3D, instead opting to film the movie in IMAX as he did with The Dark Knight. Surprisingly, Nolan claims that Warner Bros. fully supports his decision to skip the 3D craze and stick with just two of the Ds. Then again when you have a director that has made well over a billion dollars for the studio in just his last two movies, perhaps it isn’t so surprising that the execs agree to let him do things his own way.

So let the speculation on whom the villain is begin anew! The Riddler is out, Mr. Freeze was long ago eliminated, and the Joker will not be recast. The film is still in the casting process, and the studio is said to be looking to cast an actress for a lead role– but whether or not that means she will be an enemy to Batman or a love interest to Bruce Wayne is unclear. So what is your best guess? Who will face off against Batman? Sound off below!

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Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

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