Of all the material yet released for the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman series, including the new CIA bulletins, the new poster is probably the thing that provokes the greatest degree of chills. The "smashed mask" imagery is a comic book hero staple, foreboding the possible demise of our unstoppable hero. Usually, things work out just fine for these caped crime fighters. But...this is Christopher Nolan. So...I'm actually not too sure that Bruce Wayne is going to survive this movie. It's kind of shocking to think about a Batman movie wherein Batman dies, but if anyone's going to make one, it's Nolan and Christian Bale.

Hovering over the remains of what is plausibly a deceased Wayne is the third movie's central villain, Bane (Tom Hardy). Now, it might all be just a clever scheme to hook the three people out there who aren't already obsessed with The Dark Knight Rises. But we can't rule anything out, here. Nothing is a given. No one is safe. Batman.