We’ve received an exclusive press release from director Christopher Nolan regarding his upcoming film, The Dark Knight Rises.  In it, he details some of the specific of the plot along with how he plans to wrap up such a beloved series of films in a way that will be satisfying for the fans.

From the press release:

• We didn’t want to introduce the character of Robin in this series because we had always felt that Robin had his own story to be told.  We also didn’t want to tread into the goofy territory of the 90s era Batman films, and we felt that Robin would hinder the more serious tone we were trying to achieve. To fill the sidekick void, we gave Batman assistance in the form of Poochie from the Simpsons. He’s pretty rad.
• When I had heard word of Heath’s death, I was simply floored. We had planned to make his version of the Joker central to the 3rd film and sadly that just was not possible. There was some test footage available from before his death, but I felt that it would not properly honor his memory, so we opted to recast the role. The Joker in Rises will be played by Tyler Perry.
• Flashbacks have always intrigued me in films because it’s like you’re giving the audience more information about your characters, but at a later time in the film.  In Rises, we have structured the film to start in the middle, then simultaneously work forward and backward until nobody has any idea what the hell they’re looking at.  Some scenes will be in black and white, others in color.  Batman will have a head trauma so it will all make sense, trust me.
• I’ve always thought that the Batman character had an amazing amount of depth to him that never was depicted correctly on screen. That’s why in Rises, we will be taking Batman to the depths of his world. With assistance from director James Cameron, we have been able to place actor Christian Bale and a Batman costume into a tiny submarine and allow him to explore the Mariana Trench. There he will find the deepest possible meaning behind the Batman, while similarly discovering an alien species that appears to be made out of water.
• Through a lucrative and almost unheard of deal between DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and myself, we have crafted a subplot in Rises that will be unlike any other due to licensing the rights to the character Wolverine. Hugh Jackman will reprise his role from the X-Men films, finally proving my stance once and for all that my films are cannon with the X-Men universe (and they have been part of that universe for some time). Basically at one point there will be a quick cut of Batman performing magic for a Victorian audience and the Wolverine will come and shoot him.
• Anne Hathaway will of course be appearing in this film as Selena Kyle/Catwoman, a morally ambiguous character that will present challenges for Batman around every corner.  Anne was instrumental in helping to make this an original character as I had never heard of Catwoman prior to casting.  In fact, Anne pretty much invented the character herself. I have it on good authority that Anne Hathaway owns the rights to the Catwoman intellectual property and she has never appeared in any media before this film.
• Luckily I was able to secure Morgan Freeman for a 3rd time, but only because I lied to him about the title of the film. He thought it would be a narration role and that the title would be Batman 3: March of the Penguin.
• At the 11th hour, we have decided to add in an extended dream sequence that will take roughly two thirds of the movie to explain and then we’ll feature incredible visuals for the remainder of the film.
• The ending was undoubtedly difficult to nail down. To remain true to the timbre of the previous two films while offering fans a fulfilling conclusion proved very challenging indeed. That’s why we actually filmed 4 separate endings, each with its own unique emotional note to give fans the exact experience they are looking for. Possible options include The Control Ending, The Destroy Ending, The Synthesis Ending, and the brand new Refusal Ending, exclusive to the extended cut DLC.  Each option is fairly similar (for budgetary reasons), but each one presents every member of the audience with a different color of explosions based on their choice, which is of course some pretty bitchin’ tech.

So there you have it; some interesting insights into The Dark Knight Rises straight from the horses mouth.