Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Talks to Join ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

And the awesomeness just keeps on coming. As if last week’s announcement of Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy playing Selina Kyle and Bane respectively in The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t enough to wipe the drool from our mouths for a while, just a few hours ago Deadline broke the story that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is “in talks” to re-team with Christopher Nolan for his final Batman flick. No word on what role JGL is coming on board to play, so let the speculation begin.

JGL has been rumored for months as being “considered” for TDKR, with First Showing reporting back in July that he was on a shortlist to play the Riddler; that rumor was officially debunked by Nolan soon thereafter (that the Riddler would be in the film, that is). So who will Joe play? Well, considering that Bane will be the “main” villain, and Selina Kyle/Catwoman will be playing some form of antagonist, it’s logical to assume that JGL won’t be cluttering up the baddies, ala Spider-Man 3. Having said that, both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight featured multiple antagonists in some form trying to bring down Bruce Wayne. Begins had: Ra’s al Ghul, Carmine Falcone, Scarecrow, dirty cops and murderous prisoners. TDK had: the Joker, Joker’s gang, Two-Face, Salvatore Maroni, and dirty cops. So the notion of JGL coming on board as another baddie, in some form or another, isn’t an outrageous one.

In addition, considering his young age of 29, many peeps on the movie forums have immediately concluded that he could play Dick Grayson (Robin). And while that thought certainly doesn’t have me jumping out of my seat, I of course unconditionally Nolan’s decision-making. But with all these well-known character possibilities, I think JGL will ultimately play a detecitve or some form of police force that teams up with Gordon to hunt down Batman. Whoever he ends up playing, it’s gonna be awesome.

The Dark Knight Rises bursts into theaters on July 20, 2012.

What Do You Think? Discuss.