Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight (2008) find Gotham at a time of peace. This is due to Batman taking the fall for Harvey Dent's murder. However, a new evil force named Bane has arrived in Gotham and aims to take over the city and expose the truth behind who Harvey Dent really was. Now that Wayne Manor has been completely rebuilt, Bruce Wayne has become almost reclusive, rarely leaving the estate. And with Bane taking over the city by force, it forces Batman to come out of retirement. But his allies are few and far between. An elusive jewel thief by the name of Selina Kyle could be the key to stopping Bane, but whose side is she on?
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After The Dark Knight, studio executives reportedly wanted the third film built around the Riddler, with Leonardo DiCaprio in mind for the role. Nolan wasn't interested in another cerebral, chatty villain right after the Joker, so he went a completely different direction with Bane instead.
Heath Ledger's sister Kate has said her brother had plans to return as the Joker in another Batman film before his death in January 2008. Nolan chose not to recast the role out of respect, which is part of why the Joker is never mentioned by name in Rises.
The Gotham Rogues stadium collapse was filmed at Heinz Field with around 10,000 extras. The scene is set in the fall, so everyone was in heavy coats and gear during an actual August heatwave, and medics ended up treating people for heat exhaustion on set.
Costume designer Lindy Hemming spent two full years getting Bane's coat exactly right, drawing on Swedish Army jackets and French Revolution-era frock coats for the shape. That's a lot of time for something Bane wears for maybe half the movie.
Rises isn't a straight adaptation of one comic, it's really three stitched together: The Dark Knight Returns for the aged, retired Batman angle, No Man's Land for cutting Gotham off from the rest of the country, and Knightfall for pretty much all of the Bane material.
Nolan leaned on A Tale of Two Cities while shaping the film, and it shows up directly on screen: Commissioner Gordon reads a line from the Dickens novel during his eulogy for Bruce Wayne, tying the whole trilogy's ending to a story about sacrifice and rebirth.
Jonathan Nolan wrote the first draft of the screenplay, and it clocked in at roughly 400 pages. Since a page of script usually equals about a minute of screen time, that would've made for a genuinely absurd runtime before anyone started trimming it down.
Hardy put on around 30 pounds to hit roughly 200 pounds for Bane, but he's only about 5'9', so on top of the muscle he wore three-inch lifts just to look properly imposing next to Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman.
Long before Tom Hardy, Bane showed up in Batman & Robin, played by wrestler Robert 'Jeep' Swenson. That version barely spoke and got his strength from a chemical called Venom being pumped into his brain, nothing like the calculating character in Rises.
Everyone knows Anne Hathaway is playing Catwoman, but listen closely and you'll notice the word never actually gets said in the film. She's Selina Kyle to the people who know her, and just 'the Cat' in the newspaper headlines about the mysterious burglar.
