Six ladies vying for The Dark Knight Rises

Batman could be getting a new girlfriend or villainess (often the same thing, right guys?) Hollywood and the Internet are a buzz with the latest The Dark Knight Rises speculation, this time with the rumour that six leading ladies are in the running for the roles of Batman’s new love interest or arch-nemesis…or both. Natalie Portman, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, Anne Hathaway, Keira Knightley and Blake Lively were all named as potential candidates. Although little is known about the roles, we can only assume one lucky lady will be stepping in to play Batman’s new girlfriend following the death of Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight.

Perhaps what’s most unusual about this speculation is the diversity of the ladies that have been named, ranging from 23-year-old Blake Lively to Naomi Watts, who just turned 42.

No doubt all these actresses are qualified. Watts, Hathaway and Weiz are all Oscar nominees, while Portman stared in the comic book hit V for Vendetta, Lively will be staring in The Green Lantern next year, and Keira Knightley made fanboys swoon in the action trilogy Pirates of the Caribbean. Who will it be?

Most tantalizing is the possibility of a new villainess, something director Christopher Nolan has yet to tackle with his Batman franchise. Will Catwoman slink back into the limelight, or will comic favourite Talia al Ghul (daughter of Liam Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul from Batman Begins) make her big-screen debut? We’ll have to wait till closer to The Dark Knight Rises tentative 2012 release date, so keep an eye on the skies for Tribute’s Bat-signal updates for more info.

Dan Blackwell