Dark Knight Rises news: Prologue details reveal Bane origins

On Monday we heard some juicy rumours about the six minute 'Dark Knight Rises' prologue that will be attached to IMAX showings of 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol' on 26 December.

But what do they tell us about the possible plot?

A mole told Metro that the scene will show the film's villain Bane (played by Tom Hardy) hijack a plane to kill a dictator, only to crash and become horribly disfigured. Hence the scars and that mask.

[See also: Christopher Nolan reveals Dark Knight Rises plot details]

It also revealed that the origins of the character. Turns out he was raised by League of Shadows boss Ra's al Ghul [played by Liam Neeson in earlier films]. They were the villainous alliance of evil seen in 'Batman Begins'.

Firstly, this is a totally different from the character's background in the comics — in the DC universe he was a super-strong prisoner who became a test subject for drug Venom — and became (even more) nuts in the process.

Now his upbringing mirrors that of Batman in the films - remember Christian Bale's crime fighter was also trained by the League of Shadows in the first movie - and sets up Bane as a kind of warped mirror image to Batman. Even more warped that is.

Director Christopher Nolan has form for this kind of 'different sides of the same coin' character narrative. See 'Insomnia', 'The Prestige' and 'The Dark Knight'.

Fans of the comics will also know that Bane was most famous for breaking Batman's back (in the 'Knightfall' story). A wheelchair-bound Bruce Wayne was then replaced in the bat cowl by some dude called Jean-Paul Valley.

[See also: Anne Hathaway's Catwoman outfit revealed]

As we've seen, Nolan has pretty much ignored all but the bare bones of the source material, but quotes from Christian Bale this week could hint at a similar kind of storyline.

He's confirmed that this will be the last time he'll play the caped crusader and, cryptically, how the film "finishes Bruce Wayne's story". Could it be that that (gulp) the Dark Knight will end up paralyzed, or even die? Only to "rise" again as someone else?

It's already spawned several online theories about this possibility, not least this well-researched piece from Cracked that suggests Wayne will be replaced by a New York cop played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

It's certainly an intriguing theory; replacing or killing off the main character is something rarely seen in Hollywood comic adaptations and few have the guts to pull it off. Nolan is one of those few.

[See also: Andy Serkis set for Apes Oscar nod]

What we do know for sure is that the prologue will be in IMAX cinemas from Boxing Day. If it's as good as the opening scene of 'The Dark Knight' - which introduced the Joker - then we're in for a treat.

Let us know what you think of all the developments in the comments section below.