Deadline is reporting that besides previously cast Tom Hardy there will be a female villain in The Dark Knight Rises, and the current list of contenders is literally all the same women you've been hearing rumored for flicks like The Man of Steel, Alien Prequel, etc. Those ladies are...
Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley
Well, at least Katherine Heigl wasn't on there.
These fine actresses are also lined up to play the love interest of Bruce Wayne, who is rumored to be Julie Madison, but who could the villain be? Most of the interweb have it narrowed to two likely suspects: Catwoman (yawn) and the more exciting notion of Talia al Ghul. Miss Ghul is the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, memorably played by Liam Neeson in Batman Begins, and has been a huge presence in the comics since Dennis O'Neal's era in the early 70's, even giving birth to Wayne's son Damian. Although he doesn't mention her in Begins, in the comics Ra's trains his daughter in all manner of martial arts and she aids him in his criminal activities. She alternately foils and saves Batman.
Bringing in Talia (and possibly Ra's if they wanna go all Lazarus Pit) would bring this series, which Chris Nolan has always envisioned as a finite trilogy, to a worthy close. Or he could just do frickin' Catwoman again (zzzzz.). (As for who I think would be the best contender to play Talia, I'll give you a clue: That's her picture on the right.
