'The Dark Knight Rises' trailer gives more hints about the trilogy's finale

'The Dark Knight Rises' trailer sheds more light on the character of Catwoman and how the movie will take advantage of the IMAX format.

 The Dark Knight Rises trailer 3 is here! The Avengers is the belle of the ball in theaters right now, but Chris Nolan’s finale to the Batman trilogy is far from forgotten – and will surely be in the forefront again (for better or worse) after people get a look at the new footage.

After three trailers we have some of the answers that fans have been wondering and/or worrying about – plus new questions to wonder and/or worry about. Scroll down to the comments for the discussion.

The best word to describe this third Dark Knight Rises trailer would probably be “crescendo.” Starting from Selina Kyle’s (Anne Hathaway) ominous whispered threat to Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) about coming storms – to the final shot of The Bat hovercraft soaring and barrel-rolling across the skies of Gotham, this trailer attempts to showcase just how epic this third and final film is going to be.

Admittedly, however, this is clearly a trailer that is meant for a big screen – the final scene of The Bat hovercraft seemingly taking advantage of the film’s impressive IMAX format (along with many other scenes glimpsed in the trailer).

Here are a couple of things of note, in terms of questions that have been answered:

• Catwoman seems like a cynical crook-for-hire, but one who eventually takes up Batman’s cause. I have a feeling the new footage will assuage a lot of doubt about Anne Hathaway getting the role.
• The audio on Bane’s (Tom Hardy) vocals has definitely been cleaned up and clarified. While it’ll be easier to understand, there is something lost in the effect the ravaged, scratchy version had.
• The movie seems to be a combination of the Batman comic book storylines “Knightfall“, “Knightquest“, and “No Man’s Land“. Click any of those titles to learn more about the respective stories.

As for new questions and worries:

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard’s characters – for the moment – seem to be no more than what they are: a local Gotham cop and Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend, respectively. Rumors have long been flying about one or both of them having secret identities of their own – but Nolan is playing that close to the vest for now (or, scary thought, not playing that game at all).
• Looking at the story structure, it seems like there will be a significant portion of this film in which there is no Batman, just Bruce Wayne. Don’t know how fans will feel about that.
• Side characters like Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s cop character and other supporting players like Commissioner Gordon, Miranda Tate and Catwoman may not serve as suitable substitutions for Batman in a “Batman movie.”

As we discuss on this week’s Screen Rant Podcast, Dark Knight Rises in some ways has it harder than, say, The Amazing Spider-Man. Nolan and Co. have HUGE expectations to live up to – critically, financially, publicly – and even if he does a really good job, anything short of goosebump-inducing awe will be considered a disappointment. By contrast, if Spider-Man  is even marginally entertaining, it’ll be deemed a pleasant surprise.

Kofi Outlaw blogs at Screen Rant.