I hope its not Catwoman. That would be so boring.

Its gotta be talia… it was forshadowed in the first one when bruce wayne had an epiphany that Ras Al Ghoul was immortal because even if you killed the Ra, another member of the league would fill his shoes… and since Liam Nieson died… Talia (his daughter) would obviously replace him… that's your female villain FOR SURE.

I don't care who she plays, Rachel Weisz is never a bad choice.

Watts would come next for me, mostly because I'd prefer actresses that actually feel like contemporaries of Christian Bale, not ten years younger. Portman's a great actress though, I wouldn't complain about her.

Lively is gorgeous, but a mediocre actress at best. Weakest part of The Town.

I hope it's Keira Knightley as Talia (she's got the whole noble British thing going, which would sync up with Neeson's Ra's) and Rachel Weisz as Selina (because I think she's the right age to convincingly canoodle with Bale and she's got a cheeky fun side which would suit Catwoman).

Marsha Queen of Diamonds FTW.

Talia would be the better choice of the two, but how aboput Lady Shiva? No-one ever thinks to mention her as a potential candidate….

its either gonna be catwoman, talia, poison ivy or harley quinn. i think everyone pretty much knows that its going to unfortunately be catwoman. nolan needs to just come out with it

You can't really have Harley without the Joker, so I don't think she's an option. Poison Ivy, maybe, but I don't know if I see her in Nolan's universe.

You can have Harley Quinn without the Joker in much the same way Shawnee Smith's character kept acting on behalf of Jigsaw in the Saw movies. I'd be all for that, mostly because I know how much Harley Quinn enrages the comic purists.

#4: your plan has but one teensy flaw: Keira Knightley can't act for shit. Not even to Katie Holmes' level.

I second Commenter 10. Keira Knightley is simply awful, and she seems like this pretentious snob who's only famous for a three part dumbass pirate series based on a rank and smelly ride at Disneyland. Okay, so she's been in Oscar bait pics, too. Who cares? She's boring, dull, blah.

I'm not really sure why there's so much Catwoman hate. She's been done to death maybe, and the memory of that awful Halle Berry vehicle still lingers, but Nolan will take her to interesting places surely? She also shows new sides to Bruce Wayne, the irony being that she's really the perfect woman for him and understands him better than most would. Which would be an interesting element to play up considering the whole police force will be after Batman in the next film…he's an outlaw. As a side note, I agree with a friend of mine: Marion Cotillard would make a damn fine Catwoman.

christina hendricks as poison ivy.
the world explodes
the end

Both characters could work into capping Nolan's "trilogy". Remember, "Batman Begins" and (especially) "The Dark Knight" were heavily influenced by "The Long Halloween". In that story, Catwoman was the illegitimate daughter of Carmine Falcone… Catwoman/Selina could very well be the "love interest" and Talia al Ghul could be the "villain"… so both choices work. Thematically it really sets up a brilliant conclusion for Nolan's batfilms… "Begins" was about acceptining fear… "Knight" was about accepting escalation… and "Rises" can be about accepting legacy… Will Bruce Wayne/Batman live up to the legacy of his father (justice)? Will Selina Kyle/Catwoman be destroyed by the legacy of her father (crime)? Will Talia be consumed by the legacy of her father (revenge)?

UGH! Goddamnit! Batman has already learned that he CAN'T have a love interest without endangering her (and he's still getting over the death of Rachel). Sure, cast some hottie as a floozie Bruce is banging as a millionaire playboy, fine. But NO LOVE INTEREST! And a female fighter?! In the super serious Nolan Batman universe, Christian Bale's Batman would have absolutely no problem punching a female criminal. She would last 30 seconds, tops! Heck, even in Batman Returns they had to seriously neuter Batman's fighting when he was against Catwoman just to try to make it beleivable (it wasn't). I'm all for good female roles in movies (and hot chicks in movies), but unless it's a female who is a background planner (like say Harley Quinn), it just doesn't fit in the Batman universe Nolan has created here.

why does harley quinn enrage the purists?

Its obviously going to be Talia. Nolan has spoken about completing the trilogy with a "cinematic sweep" in terms of the shooting format (keeping it 2D) and I'm sure that can be extended to the thematic arch also. It will either ne Knightley or Portman for Talia. I'm not particularly crazy on either, but they'll do. Also there MUST be another male villain, maybe Bane or Killer Croc. That would fit in with Batman facing two villains as with the first two films. And I'd say Rachel Weisz will be Wayne's new love interest (she's the only one in the right age range).

Natalie Portman fights like a hamster.

I don't believe these actresses would take a role as simple as a love interest. Least not Rachel Weisz.

But just to speculate a little further, they mentioned they are casting TWO female leads. A love interest for Bruce, and a villain. I think they might actually include BOTH Talia and Catwoman. Yes Goyer ruled out Cats early on, but in the two years past, they could have had a change of heart. Here me out.

My prediction (which could be way off base) is that Bruce is dating the good girl (fill in the blank, Julie Madison, Silver St Cloud, etc) but batman ends up being more intrigued with the supposed villainess Catwoman who perhaps likes his true darker self, who Rachel didn't want to be with "this is your mask". But later, when Bruce finds that Catwoman isn't as bad as he thought she was, he realizes the real villainess isn't her but the romantic interest who is just an alias for Talia to infiltrate Bruce's life so she can make him suffer and later take revenge for the death of her father. Like father, like daughter. It would make the love interest role not a fluff character, and give both females a character arc. One percieved as bad is really good, one percieved as good is really bad.

Again, just a prediction. I'm gonna go for an even longer shot with who Tom Hardy might be playing as well…

Deacon Blackfire from Batman: The Cult

I think The Dark Knight RISES might have a religious or spiritual connotation to the title, and I think he's much more of a believable villain in the context of Nolan's films. I think theme wise they could go the Raiders Of The Lost Ark route and deal with "faith". Although that could include characters like THE REAPER and AZRAEL (Hebrew for angel of death)

Rachel Weisz as Talia Al Ghul. YES.

Although she would make a fine Catwoman, too. She would make a fine any character.

Charles Grodin is my bet

I think thematically speaking Catwoman is an obvious choice…maybe too obvious. Still, when you coombine Batman's presumable "outlaw" status coupled with the undercurrent of "Am I making the situation worse by attracting/inspiring these people?" that was established in The Dark Knight, and sprinkle with a touch of "here's a woman that potentially not only understands me but is capable to some degree of protecting herself" and it mixes pretty well. To the folks saying "no love interest" I'd note that Batman pretty consistently manages to have multiple love interests despite the risks and despite his occasional attempts to alienate himself from everyone around him.

Anyway, my biggest concern is that Nolan is so asexual as a filmmaker that virtually any of the female characters in Batman's rogues' gallery are going to be (pardon the expression) neutered, when sexuality is a large component of their concept.

Kiera Knightley as Lady Shiva. It would be the greatest, most hilarious thing ever and would instantly give millions of fanboy nerds crippling aneurysms. Win/win.

I would bet Harley Quinn because Nolan said that it wouldn't be anyone supernatural, and Catwoman would be too boring. I can definitely see Harley Quinn without Joker because they can explain the Joker's absence by sending him to Arkham thereby meeting Dr. Quinzel and the rest is history.

Rachel Weisz should have a role in The Dark Knight Rises. I hope she plays Bruce Wayne's love interest because i could see her and Christian Bale being a really great couple.