Joseph Gordon-Levitt hops aboard the Batman bandwagon

Now, Saturday evenings are not the usual time to be hunched over a laptop blogging away. Yet here I am, on a Saturday evening hunched over a laptop and blah blah blah. But until 20^th July 2012 comes around, the rumour mill will rigorously be in motion over Christopher Nolan’s third and final Batman movie in the trilogy. You can now cross off Joseph Gordon-Levitt from the rumour list. There have been confirmed reports that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has officially signed on for The Dark Knight Rises.

This has come as no surprise as the actor has been hotly tipped for a role in next year’s blockbuster ever since Chris Nolan put pen to paper on the third movie of his Bat saga. The Brit filmmaker does make a habit of casting actors who he has worked before such as Cillian Murphy and of course Christian Bale. Levitt, who worked with Nolan in last year’s mega-hit Inception has been rumoured to be playing nearly every role in the world of Gotham City from the Riddler to Robin. Yet there is no word which role he will be responsible for. Boy does Chris Nolan love to keep things hush hush or what!

After smashing his Inception role as Arthur out of the park, the prospect of the young actor starring alongside the likes of the Caped Crusader himself Christian Bale, his former co-star Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Sir Michael Caine and Gary Oldman is tantalising. Speculation will now be fierce among the Internet of whom he will be playing. Personally I can see the 500 Days of Summer star stepping into the bright green suit of the Riddler. Among rumours this has been the most popular choice and I can imagine him now in the role of the fiendishly brilliant Dr. Edward Nygma aka the Riddler once played by Jim Carrey in the 1995 OTT Batman Forever.

On the other hand if Christopher Nolan were to go down that avenue, he would have three potential villains all sharing the screen (Tom Hardy‘s Bane and Selina Kyle aka Catwoman played by Anne Hathaway). Now cast your minds back a few years ago when Sam Raimi brought us the hugely disappointing Spiderman 3. Disappointing on many levels (yes including Goth Peter Parker) but mainly because there was too much going on with the brace of villains that were on screen and it destroyed the film. It’s a minor if at all concern but on reflection of Christopher Nolan’s back catalogue particularly the previous two Batman films to suggest that if anyone’s going to do it, he’s your man.

The film’s expectations are as follows: Filming is expected to commence in May - The bog standard Chris Nolan method of viral marketing will begin this Summer - Everything will be kept on a “Need to know basis.” The guy is rumoured to not even own a mobile phone because he wants to keep it all secret and tightly wrapped up. Is that need to know enough for ya?!

Does the new casting addition make TDKR even more a mouthwatering prospect? Or too many cooks spoil the broth?

Written By Michael Cunneen