Dark Knight Rises: Full Catwoman shot & Nolan and Hardy speak

It's been all quiet on the Batman front for a couple of months now with 'Prometheus' and 'Avenger's Assemble' hogging this year's blockbuster spotlight in the absence of the Dark Knight.

Everyone knows 'The Dark Knight Rises' remains the biggest film of the year though, and with a new magazine cover unveiled and quotes from director Christopher Nolan and the film's cast, it looks like the promotional juggernaut is back in business.

"He represents formidable physical strength, combined with absolute evil of intention," Nolan said about the films big bad, Tom Hardy's Bane.

[Related story: The Dark Knight Rises - Breakdown of the first trailer]
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Hardy himself spoke of his character too, in particular talking about the voice, which has been a major talking point since the film's prologue scene was released. "It's a risk, because we could be laughed at — or it could be very fresh and exciting," he said.

"The audience mustn't be too concerned about the mumbly voice. As the film progresses, I think you'll be able to tune to its setting."

Hardy also spoke of how the voice of the character was influenced by his desire to honour the brains and Caribbean heritage of the character's comic book origins.

The cover of US mag Entertainment Weekly is fairly inconspicuous but has plenty of juicy information and brand new shots from the film within. The first full high quality image of Anne Hathaway in her Catwoman garb has also been released and can be seen below.

Speaking of Catwoman, Nolan said: "She has a very strong way of protecting herself and those she cares about, which implies an underlying darkness."

Inside the mag are some new shots from the film, including Batman holding what looks like an iPad, Catwoman "inspecting" a safe, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) showing off his fetching robe to Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Bane making some new friends at the Stock Exchange via the medium of skull cracking.

With the cogs of the film's marketing department beginning to move again it's safe to assume that the floodgates are about to be opened and, quite possibly, we'll be treated to a new trailer sometime in the near future.