Yesterday, the website of Canadian T.V. broadcaster SPACE: The Imagination Station had announced that director Christopher Nolan confirmed on who will be ther villain in the upcoming 2012 film "The Dark Knight Rises", which will not only be the sequel to 2008's "The Dark Knight", but also the last installment of Nolan's "Batman" film series. The villain of the film will be Bane, thus making the movie itself to be the 1st live-action "Batman" film to feature him since 1997's "Batman & Robin". The actor to play Bane will be Tom Hardy, who played Shinzon for "Star Trek: Nemesis" (2002).

In addition, Nolan also indicated that Anne Hathaway (who played White Queen for the 2010 film "Alice in Wonderland") will be playing Selina Kyle for the same film, thus making it the first live-action movie to feature the femme fatle herself since 1992's "Batman Returns".

Though the story premise for "The Dark Knight Rises" hasn't yet been confirmed, the movie's scheduled for release on July 20, 2012.

12:17 PM Canada EST