THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

To no one's surprise, Oscar winner Marion Cotillard and reigning coolest-guy-in-the-world, Joseph Gordon-Levitt have officially been penned into director Christopher Nolan's concluding chapter of his Batman tale. What is newsworthy are the roles they're portraying. Cotillard will be Miranda Tate, a Wayne Enterprises board member, while JGL is John Black, a simple beat cop under the watchful eye of Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman).

Originally, the rumour mill had both engaging in more well-known and sinister roles: that of Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra's (Liam Neeson from Batman Begins), and Alberto Falcone, a mobster who would later become the Holiday killer, but it appears that Nolan (as usual) has other plans.

These two thesps already join an already stellar cast: Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway. We'll have all the answers July 20, 2012 when The Dark Knight Rises arrives in theatres to presumably make a zillion dollars.