No mention of The Joker in The Dark Knight Rises

There will be no mention of The Joker in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ out of respect for the late Heath Ledger, who played the character in the last Batman film.

Director Christopher Nolan told Empire magazine that he “will not be addressing The Joker at all” in the final instalment of his DC trilogy.

Heath Ledger's take on the ultimate Batman villain won rave reviews and earned the star a posthumous Oscar.

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Ledger died soon after completing work on 'The Dark Knight', and fans were curious if his character, left literally hanging at the end of the film, would feature in a flashback scene or at least get a mention.

Nolan, however, wants no reference to the Joker. He said: “We're not addressing The Joker at all. That is something I felt very strongly about in terms of my relationship with Heath and the experience I went through with him on ‘The Dark Knight’.

“I didn't want to in any way try and account for a real-life tragedy. That seemed inappropriate to me. We just have a new set of characters and a continuation of Bruce Wayne's story. Not involving The Joker.”

The publicity machine for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is now in full swing, with new posters and TV spots emerging on an almost daily basis.

The long wait to actually see the film will be over when it’s released in the UK on 20 July.