The Dark Knight Rises is only two weeks away from being released in theaters on July 20th. That's not a longtime to wait anymore, and if you've stayed spoiler free up until this point, you might as well stay fresh and log out of this story, as plenty of new plot details have been offered up in the official press notes from Warner Bros.

To read all of these extensive notes, which include over fifty pages of new interviews from director Christopher Nolan and his cast, including Christian Bale as Batman, Tom Hardy as Bane, and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman: CLICK HERE

First, Christian Bale reveals more about Bruce Wayne's motivation and journey here in this third and final film, as seen in contrast to the first two installments.

"In Batman Begins, you see the tragedy and the pain that motivates this angry young man, who feels useless and is searching for a path...He wants to find out who he is and what he can become. Then in The Dark Knight, he's discovered that path. He is useful; he is doing what he imagines is the best thing for him to be doing in his life. Now, we are eight years on and he has lost the one thing that gave him a purpose...until he is forced to deal with a new threat to the city and to himself."

Director Christopher Nolan followed up with this information on the time lapse between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, and why he chose Bane as the main threat in Bruce Wayne's life.

"Our story picks up eight years later, when it seems that Batman and Commissioner Gordon have succeeded...The Dark Knight is no longer needed in Gotham. In that regard, Bruce Wayne has won the battle, but he is traumatized by what happened and doesn't know how to move on from being the figure of Batman. The Dark Knight Rises very much deals with the consequences of his and other characters' actions in the previous films.

In deciding on who the next villain would be, it was imperative that it was someone completely different from the Joker...That he be a brute force. The physical component of what Bruce Wayne does as Batman is of extraordinary importance, and we had not truly challenged that in the first two films. I really wanted to see Batman meet his match physically, as well as intellectually. Bane is raw strength with a fanatical devotion to duty, and that combination makes him unstoppable."

Christian Bale also spoke about the importance of bringing Bane into this final storyline.

"This is the first time it appears highly unlikely that Batman will come out on top in a physical altercation. He has been dormant for years, so he's in a weakened condition to begin with, and Bane is not only incredibly strong but ruthless in terms of his sheer militancy and the ideology that drives him."

The man behind Bane, Mr. Tom Hardy, also offered insight into this new villain's psyche.

"Bane is a terrorist in both his mentality and his actions. He is physically intimidating and he's also very intelligent, which makes him even more dangerous. Bane has come to do a job and has no feelings of remorse."

Of course, Bane isn't the only threat to Batman in this latest adventure. Catwoman will also causes our caped crusader some trouble. This is what Anne Hathaway had to offer on playing the role of Selina Kyle.

"It's hard to reveal anything about Selina Kyle because she is intensely private and very mysterious. She has her own code of ethics, which sometimes involves doing things that other people might consider questionable. I think Selina does what is necessary to survive. And that includes crossing a few lines that others might find unforgivable. Even if she wants to change, it's hard to escape your past...and she does have a past. That makes her vulnerable, especially these days when anyone with a computer or smartphone can look up almost anything about you. Everybody has moments in life when they think, 'If I knew then what I know now...' Selina might like the opportunity not to have to live by the choices she was forced to make up to this point."

This will not be a movie without action. Director Christopher Nolan offered this on the ultimate fight between Bane and Batman.

"This was very much a toe-to-toe, blow-to-blow physical clash, and Christian Bale and Tom Hardy put an incredible amount of work into it. Just the demands of the costumes...One character has the lower half of his face obscured, the other the upper half also posed problems. They had trouble hearing each other because they were wearing those masks and working in very noisy environments while performing these feats. It required very intense preparation. And when it came time to shoot, Christian Bale and Tom Hardy worked extremely well together. It was frighteningly real, and quite intimidating to see these iconic, larger-than-life characters really go at it. There are plenty of other large-scale action scenes in the film, but that face-to-face confrontation between these two adversaries was something I really felt was the centerpiece of the film."

To read more about the film, including insight into Commissioner Gordon's motivation this time out, be sure to visit the official The Dark Knight Rises Website: CLICK HERE