**Edit: Added new images from the coverage.

News has been pretty quiet on “The Dark Knight Rises” since Nolan finished filming and screened to WB execs a while back but as the temperatures begin to increasingly creep up the promotion wheels for the film will begin spinning and what better way than having Christian Bale as Batman and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman grace the cover of Entertainment Weekly? Add in Tom Hardy offering some choice quotes about Bane’s unique way of speech and you have a winner.

“Speaking withEW, Hardy doesn’t seem to think we’ll have a problem understanding the dialogue once we settle into the movie:”

“The audience mustn’t be too concerned about the mumbly voice.  As the film progresses, I think you’ll be able to tune to its setting.”

 Hardy admitted that they didn’t go the muffled route without pause:

“It’s a risk, because we could be laughed at — or it could be very fresh and exciting.”

“The actor revealed that Bane’s dialect was influenced by “a desire to honor the character’s brains and Caribbean heritage.”

Well if th emovie winds up cutting it close to the 4 hour range I damn sure better get used to it! I kid. We could only be so lucky if the movie were to approach that length and have fanboys struggling with their bladder to not miss a morsel of cinematic awesomeness. The guys over at EW even revealed a quote from Christopher Nolan regarding  Anne Hathaways portrayal of Selina Kyle’s and shared this:

“She has a very strong way of protecting herself and those she cares about, which implies an underlying darkness.”

And Anne added the following:

Hathaway says she prepared for the role by reading the comics and studying the moves of Hedy Lamarr and Jean Harlow, the two screen legends that inspired the original conception of the comic book villainess.

And added a bit more about preparation for the role:

“I had to physically transform,” says Hathaway…

“Chris sat me down at the beginning and said, ‘Joseph Gordon-Levitt did all of his own fighting in Inception. That one zero-gravity fight? He trained for two months.’ I basically left his office and went to the gym and just came out about five minutes ago.”

No wonder she man-handled the stunt guy with a gun butt to the face and ripped her costume and exposed her butt! The pressure to perform was immense!

I notice a lot of secrecy around her character and it’s interesting that we haven’t found much mention of her other than these alluding tidbits. My primary interest is all the secrecy surrounding Marion Cotilard’s involvement along with Liam Neeson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The suspense is painful at this point. The Dark Knight Rises will release on July 20th, 2012. Let the countdown resume…

Source: EW and Comingsoon