As if anticipation towards the 2012 sequel to The Dark Knight wasn't high enough, director Christopher Nolan has stoked the flames of fandom with two key releases of information - the title of the next Bat film, and information as to who the lead villain isn't.

Following in the footsteps of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight will be the third film, now officially titled The Dark Knight Rises.

Given the dark turn of the end of the second film, one can assume this is the redemption film for Batman, as he goes from public enemy number one to Gotham’s lead hero.

While Nolan was not ready to discuss who the main villain would be, he did eliminate one possibility, saying that the villain was not going to be The Riddler (which totally throws out my theory as to who Tom Hardy would be portraying).

Additionally, in a bit of information that made me very happy, the director noted that the movie will NOT be in 3D, and he intends to work more towards usage of IMAX in the third film. I just wonder if he is crazy enough to shoot the whole film in IMAX this time.

Any way you cut it, it’s a long road between now and 2012.  Now we just need to figure out who the villain will be.

Who do you think it is? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Source:  Hero Complex — Los Angeles Times.