Anne Hathaway Is The New Catwoman

Last week, it was reported that Kiera Knightly, Jessica Biel and Anne Hathaway were all in contention for the then-undisclosed female lead in "The Dark Knight Rises."  Many hoped it would be for Selina Kyle/Catwoman, but there was speculation that the role could be that of Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger's role in the 1989 film) or Talia Al Ghul (the daughter of Liam Neeson's character in "Batman Begins" and the mother of Batman's son Damien).  However, we now have an answer.  The role is Catwoman and today Warner Brothers announced Anne Hathaway has won the part!  In case you can't tell, I'm rather excited about this, and apparently I'm not the only one. The LA Times reports that Director Christopher Nolan said,

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway, who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete our story.”

As great as this news is, it isn't the only "Dark Knight Rises" casting news we have today.  For some time know we've known that Tom Hardy had been cast as the villain in the movie, but like the female lead, we didn't know what character that would be.  Many thought it would be The Riddler, until Christopher Nolan shot that one down.  The next possibility was Hugo Strange, a character who figures out Batman's true identity.  Today, we found out that Tom Hardy will be playing the role of Bane, a drugged up character with super-human strength who broke Batman's back in the 90s.  Tom Hardy worked with Christopher Nolan in last year's "Inception," and Nolan seems eager to work with Hardy again.

“I am delighted to be working with Tom again and excited to watch him bring to life our new interpretation of one of Batman’s most formidable enemies.”

Ok... the fact that this movie is still a year and a half away is started to get to me now :(