Menace is the order of the day in the latest trailer for Christopher Nolan's feversishly anticipated "The Dark Knight Rises," as Anne Hathaway's Catwoman says ominous things, Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Gotham beat cop looks awestruck, afraid, and hopeful all at once, and Bane's voice — if not his motives — become a little more clear.
Batman is in the movie, too.
Christian Bale spends lots of time in Bruce Wayne mode, apparently being tormented by Tom Hardy's Bane. Though Bane's first trailer appearance left fans worried about whether they'd be able to understand the masked villain — his voice was a mix of formal and squeaky — Nolan seems to have made adjustments. Bane now sounds measured, icy, and cruel as he explains to Wayne that he's in for lots of pain.
"Why didn't you just kill me?" asks battered-man Wayne.
"Your punishment must be more severe," responds Bane, going half Darth Vader.
That jittery feeling that pervaded "The Dark Knight"? It looks to have been replaced by full-blown despair.
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Talking to Hathaway's Selina Kyle, known in the comics, at least, as Catwoman, Batman doesn't sound more optimistic about his survival than Bain does. (And his voice also sounds better than it did in "The Dark Knight.")
There's also an insane jailhouse flip, two bridges exploding spectacularly, a kiss with Marion Cottilard, Michael Caine's Alfred trying to make us cry, an awesome flying contraption, and lots of other things that may make you forget about "The Avengers."
