We've seen plenty of images from the set of director Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Rises,' but it's when the actors of the upcoming film begin gracing magazine covers that the film begins to seem like a reality. Earlier today the upcoming covers for EMPIRE MAGAZINE were revealed giving us an eerie look at actor Tom Hardy as Bane, and Christian Bale as Batman.
Aside from the fact that Bale is holding what appears to be an oversized flashlight, and we get a really close up shot of Tom Hardy's mask, as far as the images go, it's not really anything we haven't seen before. That is until you check out the two quotes found at the bottom of the images from both Bale and Hardy, respectively. These short blurbs give us a little bit of insight into what the character's will be dealing with, and what the overall premise of the story will be. While it's a little bit hard to make out, beneath the image of Christian Bale on the cover of EMPIRE is a quote from the actor that tells a lot about what Batman will be experiencing in the upcoming film.
"He has to answer the question: how long do you allow pain to dominate your life?" - Christian Bale
Christopher Nolan's Batman is a tortured character who has allowed the death of both his parents to take over his entire life. Everything he does can be traced to the pain of his parents' death -- so will this movie be the definitive end to the series? Will he no longer allow "pain to dominate his life," or is this just the beginning? Could this be the definitive "end" of Chris Nolan's Batman?
== TEASER ==Beneath the image of Bane is also a quote from Tom Hardy. His, unlike Bale's, is a little less telling of the character and serves to essentially confirm what we already sort of knew.
"He's brutal. He's a terrorist. A really horrible piece of work." - Tom Hardy
This also gives us something of a clue into the characterization of Bane in the upcoming film. While in the comics, you can argue Bane wasn't always a terrorist; there were moments where he did seem to have those tendencies.
The issue will also feature an interview with the film's director, Christopher Nolan, who hints that this third Batman film will likely be his last.
“It’s really all about finishing Batman and Bruce Wayne’s story. We left him in a very precarious place. Perhaps surprisingly for some people, our story picks up quite a bit later, eight years after The Dark Knight. So he’s an older Bruce Wayne; he’s not in a great state.”
You can check out all three covers of the January 2012 issue of EMPIRE magazine, below. The January issue of EMPIRE will be available on November 24th, 2011. What do you think of the images? Do the quotes above give you some insight into what the movie will be about?
Source: Collider