First Official Pic: Anne Hathaway as Catwoman | Clothes on Film – Part 21614

Somewhat misleading as nowhere is this photo officially tagged as being ‘Catwoman’; officially this is our first shot of Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises, on a Bat(cat?)pod, wearing what appears to be a proto-Catwoman costume.

The suit, as designed by Lindy Hemming, seems to be a one or two piece, with separate wedge sole boots and past the elbow gloves, constructed of some kind of dimpled, rubberised neoprene – certainly not leather. It looks functional, perhaps with the intention of being waterproof or insulated against cold. The headgear is pure function too, we assume. Externally at least resembling a type of LED or night vision goggles, or maybe even a variation on Batman’s sonar from The Dark Knight (2008).

Sonar googles? Maybe. They could be used to record HD video. Who knows. Bane’s mask is his trademark, but what purpose does it serve in Nolan’s ‘realistic’ Batman universe?

Along with our first official shot of Tom Hardy as Bane’s back and mask (possibly designed as a means of pumping the steroid ‘venom’ into his body), plus a slew of on-set pics that could be leading us down the wrong path; these constitute official static sightings of The Dark Knight Rises so far. What’s enlightening is how we are all fervently analysing a film that is not even due out for another year. Will we get Bat fatigue by Christmas? Doubtful, as this is probably when we’ll get our first full-length trailer…

The Dark Knight Rises directed by Christopher Nolan is released on 20th July 2012.