A certain holier than thou journalist (who shall remain nameless) was getting all uppity about a story that hit the web last week, which indicated that Christian Bale would be hanging up the cape and cowl after the forthcoming entry into Christopher Nolan‘s Bat-Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. The actor indicated in an interview that if Nolan was done with the big-black bat, he too would walk away from the streets of Gotham.

That person was whining on twitter – saying, “Why are movie sites running the deceptive headline “This is Bale’s last Batman” when he clearly says he’ll do another if Nolan asks him to?” Well, put on your big-boy pants and let it go, because The Dark Knight Rises will in-fact be Nolan’s last trip to Gotham, ensuring that it will be Bale’s last Batman film as well.

Note: We didn’t run that particular story because we assumed our intelligent readership would think “Thanks Captain Obvious, of course Bale would leave the franchise if Nolan wasn’t going to direct“… so, to us it was a non-story. Other sites had a right to run with it, it certainly wasn’t deceptive. Just too obvious. But, it was a slow news week.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, director Christopher Nolan expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming Bat-film and also confirmed that it will in-fact be the last chapter for his Caped Crusader:

Nolan said,

“I feel very glad that I’m doing another Batman film. I think it would have been daunting to sit down and write an original script after Inception. I love working within the realm and rules of our Batman world. It’s kind of nice to have someplace to go that I’m super-excited about. I must say that I’m glad – I’m very, very glad – to be embarking on the last chapter of our Batman saga without any sense of obligation or duty to the studio. They did very well with Inception. So I’m able to go into finishing our story in a very enthusiastic way”

Of course this doesn’t mean it’s the end of Batman films altogether, it simply means that this will be Nolan and Bale’s final Batman film, completing Nolan’s story. Warner Bros. isn’t likely to let The Dark Knight wander off quietly into the moonlight, never to be seen again. There’s the rumored television series, and I’m relatively sure we haven’t seen the last of the caped crusader on the big-screen either.

And here… we… go!

From somewhere in Gotham, near the corner of Probably Not Gonna Happen Avenue, and Total Bullsh!t Boulevard (take a left just past the Arkham Gates, you can’t miss it), comes a new Joker related rumor –

ShowBizSpy is reporting that Nolan will use unseen footage from The Dark Knight of the late Heath Ledger‘s performance as The Joker, along with some CGI, to bring the villain back for a cameo in The Dark Knight Rises.

Their source is quoted as saying,

“The idea is to use these fragments of cut scenes and use CGI to have The Joker appear one last time. Chris wants some continuity between movies and for the franchise to pay tribute to Heath and his portrayal of the Joker. It would only be a fleeting moment in the movie and would only be included with the full consent of Heath’s family.”

Clint over at Moviehole reports that he’s spoken to a contact at Warner Bros. who denied the rumor, saying “It’s just not real”.

Of course, a rep at Warner Bros. is going to be the last person to let the cat err Bat out of the bag about tricks Nolan has up his sleeves for any project, so it’s hard to take that four word denial as golden truth.

Movieweb reports:

“sources close to the production team responsible for creating Clu 2.0 in Tron: Legacy, which enabled Jeff Bridges to play a younger version of himself, are saying that The Dark Knight Rises will pay a fitting tribute to Ledger’s Oscar winning performance utilizing a mix of excised footage and new motion capture technology employing a look-a-like double. Don’t expect a long exchange between Batman and the Joker, though. Heath Ledger’s screen time might be on par with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator Salvation cameo, which was completely animated and only lasted for a few minutes.”

I was personally hoping that they would employ some precision audio editing of Ledger’s Joker voice, and merely show the back of The Joker, shrouded in the darkness of his cell at Arkham, having him say a few taunting lines to ol’ Bats with his back turned, and laughing up a storm as the world’s greatest detective stormed out of Arkham.

While we are likely to find out the basic plot, some (if not all) of the new characters and the actors playing them in the film, well beforehand, I’m going to go ahead and guess that we aren’t likely to find out if there’s a shred of truth to the Joker cameo until July 2012. Until then, stay right here… same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!

[Update]

THR spoke with Christopher Nolan and his wife/producing partner Emma Thomas, and asked them about the Heath Ledger rumors. Thomas quickly responded:

“I heard that rumor…We’re not doing that.”

Nolan added that the Joker would not be showing up in The Dark Knight Rises, the script isn’t even finished yet, and that he wants the Joker to be contained solely within The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated to hit theaters on July 20th, 2012.