Christopher Nolan's third Batman film will be called "Dark Knight Rises," won't be 3D or have the Riddler

Christopher Nolan has revealed that the villain in his third Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" won't be the Riddler or Mr. Freeze. But we still don't know who will have to follow in the Oscar-winning footsteps of the late Heath Ledger as the next Batman baddie.

Christopher Nolan has revealed to the Los Angeles Times that his third Batman film will be called “The Dark Knight Rises.” The writer-director also told the paper’s Hero Complex blog that Warner Bros. had agreed with his argument that the film not follow the current 3-D craze and instead be made with “high-definition approaches and IMAX cameras.”

Nolan declined to share who will be the villain in his third film featuring the caped crusader, though he did reveal that it would not be the Riddler. He earlier eliminated Mr. Freeze from contention.

“We’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones,” Nolan told Hero Complex.

As with the 2008 super-blockbuster sequel “Dark Knight,” “The Dark Knight Rises” will feature a script written by Nolan and his brother, Jonah, from a story by the director and David Goyer.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is set for July 12, 2012, release. Christian Bale will return as the titular hero, but the question of who will have the unenviable task of following the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning turn as the Joker as the next Batman baddie remains a mystery.

-BAM