Yesterday, Warner Bros kicked off the week with a viral game teasing images from the trailer, as well as a nice mock-up of Batman's arrest warrant and a wanted poster.  Naturally, we all assumed that this was part of a week-long buildup to the new two-and-a-half minute glimpse at Christian Bale's final turn under the cowl, but the trailer has dropped far earlier than anticipated.

It's a somber affair, creating a sense of Batman truly being broken and Bane really laying in on Gotham, driving the place to full-on oppression in the Bat's absence.  It's also surprisingly heavy on Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John Blake.  The trailer gives a better idea of Kyle's role in the story, includes lots of atmosphere, moves from somber to action-packed, then ends on a bit of jokey blockbuster note.

Behold for yourself:

Daaaaamn.

Months of speculation and over-thinking have left me well beyond any conjecture as to the plot.  What's presented here is pretty straightforward anyhow.  Converse amongst yourselves on Batman's comment that he has yet to give everything to the people of Gotham and if that means Nolan will have the audacity to kill Bats, an idea plenty of folks have floated.

One thing's for sure: Bane's voice sure has been made to sound much, much clearer.  Tom Hardy's still got that odd inflection, but the hard to distinguish vocal quality that got people so riled last December has certainly changed.  Whether or not what we're hearing here is indicative of his voice in the final film is unclear, but if this is it, then I'll miss the fuzzy version, actually.  Bane's voice calling to mind a muzzled, feral animal is preferable to a crisp bit of Power Ranger vocal work.

One person we see very little of in this trailer is the lovely Marion Cotillard, though she does show up briefly.  Christian Bale gets plenty of time, naturally, while Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman show up and Michael Caine even has a line.  The cast of this Bat-epic also includes Matthew Modine, Juno Temple, Brett Cullen, Aiden Gillen, and Josh Pence.

The Dark Knight Rises arrives on regular and IMAX screens July 20th.