T-bone22

http://gothamcablenews.com/gotham_tonight.aspx

http://www.gothamcitypizzeria.com/

B.A.

I'm really starting to think that this is going to be better than Begins, which is something I thought was impossible.

tomharlett

Holy crap. I love Ledger's range and line delivery in only the short trailer. Amazing. Less than 5 weeks to go!

ardathbey

Wow, just wow. That trailer is phenominal. I will be there at the first showing. Seeing how wonderful Heath's performance is makes his fate even more tragic.

PopcornTreeCt

Really? I figured any Nolan helmed Batman film with a classic villain would be better than Begins. I just thought they were playing it safe Ras Ah Guhl because hey if they screwed it up at least they didn't screw up the Joker or Riddler. Begins was good not great.

raven56706

Warner Bros: Please pay Nolan and the writers whatever they want.... this is looking like the franchise for comic fans...

Zen Peckinpah

Can this movie possibly look better?

Boba Fett

How many heads will just explode in disbelief if this turns out to be another "Phantom Menace?"

JTH182

*raises hand*

Although I really like Phantom Menace when it first came out

Paul_SD

I see a lot of people setting themselves up for disappointment with this. For one thing, we all 'know' that it's not the kind of material that sends you out of the theater on an up high. Most of us already know or suspect what happens to pivitol characters. The film looks to be a downer.
That doesn't mean it can't be well made, and won't wear well in the long term and especially as part of a multi film arc- but it seems like all the doom and gloom will lack a satisfyingly cathartic resolution.
I think the movie will be an unpleasant slog for a lot of people out there.

Boba Fett

I wonder if I'm one of the few people totally hyped for this film, because I want the doom and gloom. When I heard the rumors of , I thought, "Fuck yeah. I wish more big movies would be ballsy like that."

Supermallet

A lot of film franchises often have darker second entries that point the way towards a cathartic third film. I don't think it will let people down if The Dark Knight is that way. In fact, I'd say most people are expecting it.

PopcornTreeCt

The 2nd one has to be good (see Spider-Man 2) it's the third one I expect to blow.

RichC2

I actually liked them using lesser villians in Begins, it'd be kind of cheap for Bats to start up and be instantly fighting a iconic super villian.

TheMovieman

IDK, I think as long as Nolan is directing and co-writing, the third one could be on par with the other two. If WB pressures Nolan to put in a character he doesn't feel would work (like Sony did with Raimi re: Venom), I'd think he (and his brother) would walk. Bale would be contractually obligated to do it, but they'd run the risk of him not returning for a fourth movie. I have a lot of faith in Nolan and unless he somehow screws up TDK, I'll keep the faith for Batman 3.

Also, in terms of it being darker, Nolan admits it will (the name alone says to people it will be). In fact Nolan said i things are going to get worse before they get better.

RichC2

The expectations for this movie are starting to border on "impossible to meet", or at least thats how it seems anymore. That said, I don't remember this much geek hype in a long long time, and I really can't wait to see it .

PopcornTreeCt

The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming!

RagingBull80

Just like Empire.

bdshort

Between this movie and Wall-E (especially after the comments posted at AICN), I don't know if I've been through a summer with more movies I'm very amped up to see!

Paul_SD

Yes...but the difference is that Empire didn't have several other popular and enthusiastically consumed 'lighter' space operas released weeks and months before it.
After Iron Man came out and proved very popular, I realized Warner was very smart to open this so relatively late in the season. The closer it gets though, the more I think it would have been smarter yet to open the film in the dead zone of the fall where both the election themes and the dark, depressive tone would have been more appropriate.
Not being a 'feel good' superhero movie limits the repeat business it will get over the summer anyway.

Of course, the July date is likely a compromise and Warner knows this should have been a Fall release. They couldn't do that though because it would push the DVD release to winter/spring and miss the big Q4 buying season. I'll be interested to see if they do alienate the 'masses' with this...and if they come back for the dvd/bd release.

Supermallet

All of the ads have shown this to be dark and depressing. There's a few touches of humor, but nothing that suggests this is going to be a feel good film.

bunkaroo

If any of you want a "feel good" Batman, I suggest this:

Nick Martin

^^ I will never understand why that and the TV show is so popular and is such a highly requested TV DVD title.

PopcornTreeCt

I saw one TV ad yesterday that was meant to be humorous. It was kinda lame.

Mr. Cinema

I'm 99% sure this won't happen, but let's pray Warners doesn't get Brett Ratner to direct part 3. If that did happen, he'd be responsible for totally fucking up 2 comic book franchises, 1 Marvel, 1 DC. That would be quite an accomplishment.

IF Nolan doesn't return, I wouldn't mind any of these guys taking over: Danny Boyle (Sunshine, 28 Days Later), James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Identity), the obligatory namedrop of David Fincher (Zodiac, Se7en), Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead '04), David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night), and a few others.