And the Batman rumor train rolls ever on! ComicBookMovie has broken the "take it with a grain of salt" story that the third part of Chris Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, will feature not one but TWO new love interests to replace the previously explodified Rachel Dawes.
Charlize Theron is the supposed front-runner to play Detective Sarah Essen, who comic fans will remember as the partner Jim Gordon has an affair with in Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One comics.
Meanwhile, Kacie Thomas (The Burning Plain) and Vera
Farmiga (The Departed) have both auditioned for the role of Julie Madison, a wealthy socialite who in the comics is a pawn of The Monk. Madison is engaged to Bruce Wayne, but is in the dark about his nightly activities. The Monk is one of Batman's earliest villains, a vampire who dresses like a red Ku Klux Klansman, who first appeared WAAAAAAAAAAAAY back in Detective Comics #31
Recently cast Tom Hardy has yet to reveal which villain he will play, and while some have speculated that it could be crooked Detective Harvey Bullock, The Monk is also an intriguing possibility.
