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The Dark Knight Rises will see the return of Christian Bale as a gruffer-than-necessary voiced Batman. Tom Hardy (Black Hawk Down, Inception, Warrior) will come on board in the role of Bane. Anne Hathaway is slated to play Selina Kyle, A.K.A Catwoman. Veteran actors Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman will all return in their previous roles.

This will be the third and final installment from director Christopher Nolan. Nolan was reportedly hesitant to return to the series, but welcomed the idea when brother Jonathan Nolan an David S. Goyer helped write a story that would bring the series to a satisfactory conclusion. In part, this new film is inspired by the comic Nightfall, which saw the debut of its primary villain, Bane.

After the death of Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face, Batman takes responsibility for the crimes he committed to help protect Gotham. After eight years in exile, Batman returns to once again protect the city from a new threat: Bane. So far the plot details have been well hidden, although the trailers allude to the fact that Bane will at some point take Batman hostage and try to make him pay for the things that Two-Face did.

The Dark Knight Rises is set for release on July 20, 2012.

via: BuzzFeed