While it’s been widely known for a while now that if Inception stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard weren’t 100% locked into Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, they were at least so close to their respective roles that only a supreme quirk of scheduling could get in the way. Now they’re officially aboard and Warner Bros. has gone ahead and revealed their characters.
Despite previous hints and reports that Cotillard and Gordon-Levitt would both be playing established villains from the Bat-canon, the press release specifies that they’re actually new creations dreamt up by Nolan alongside brother Jonah and co-writer David Goyer.
Cotillard’s appearing as Miranda Tate, a member of the Wayne Enterprises board who looks to help a distraught Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) cope with his grief over Rachel Dawes by resuming the philanthropic work begun by his father.
And though he was linked to the role of Alberto Falcone, Gordon-Levitt is actually playing John Blake, a Gotham cop given a special assignment by Gary Oldman’s Commissioner Gordon.
"When you collaborate with people as talented as Marion and Joe, it comes as no surprise that you would want to repeat the experience," Nolan said in a statement picked up by The Wrap. "I immediately thought of them for the roles of Miranda and Blake, and I am looking forward to working with both of them again."
But while these character descriptions are all well and good for a press release, it’s still possible one or both could turn out to have ulterior motives in mind. Don’t forget the bait-and-switched pulled by Liam Neeson’s Ra’s Al Ghul in Batman Begins…
The Dark Knight Rises starts shooting later this year for a planned release date of July 20 2012.