Gary Oldman Teases Vintage Villain For 'The Dark Knight Rises,' Says It Tops 'The Dark Knight'

When it comes to talkative members of Christopher Nolan's Batman cast, no one quite equals Michael Caine. But as Gary Oldman promotes Red Riding Hood, he has naturally been asked questions about the third Batman film, and consequently has been talking in vague terms about The Dark Knight Rises.

Some of his comments are pretty typical "the movie will be great!" stuff, but he also says that we might see an as-yet unannounced villain from Batman's very early days.

Speaking to MTV, Mr. oldman acknowledges that he has not yet read the script. But to E! Online he said of the film's chief baddie,

I think it's a villain from one of the old, old, from way back from the old comics... It is a Batman villian... It's not going to be the Joker.

Take that with a grain of salt, but since Gary Oldman probably knows just a bit more about the specifics of the story than most, we'll go with it for now. (Even if he may not be an expert on Batman comics continuity and history.)

Back to the MTV interview, where Gary Oldman says,

It's a great story — you look at The Dark Knight and think 'how's he going to top it?' but I think he has.

Asked for any vague terms — is that in terms of scope, feel, etc, he says,

Yeah, it's the scope of it, and also the way he kind of brings it back to Batman Begins and really what Christian — what Bruce Wayne discovers about himself, what he learns about himself at the end of this one.

Let that link back to Batman Begins tantalize you a bit, especially as it plays towards supposition that we'll see Talia al Ghul in the film as one villain.