The Dark Knight Rises Countdown Continues! Who Are The New Guys?

So we have now edged a further 24 hours closer to the release of The Dark Knight Rises and with new reviews from the critics seemingly coming in every second of every day it's becoming harder and harder to avoid spoilers!

But avoid we must, otherwise what would be the point? I can only presume that everyone has re-watched Batman Begins and The Dark Knight over and over again to remember why we each fell in love with Bruce, Alfred, Lucius and Gordon but we have to remember that there are going to be some new characters introduced into the fold too!

But who are these beasts and what are they going to bring to last instalment of Christopher Nolan's Batman saga?

Here is a look at the characters in The Dark Knight Rises ...

Bane - Introduced in Vengeance of Bane, he is a master criminal who was born in a corrupt and violent prison in the fictional Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca as he was forced to serve out his deceased father's life sentence. Sounds pretty harsh to me. Bane is ridiculously smart and an incredible physique and aims to bring down Gotham and Batman and he infamously breaks Bruce Wayne's back in the Knightfall series.

Selina Kyle - AKA Catwoman, Selina has been around since 1940 and has been a mainstay of each Batman incarnation. Chris Nolan will more than likely use an amalgamation of Frank Miller's 1986 version from Batman : Year One for his version, where she works as a prostitute, and the Selina from Batman:Dark Victory for The Dark Knight Rises. Probably without the prostitue angle though.

John Blake - Joseph Gordon Levitt's character isn't involved in any of the comic's history and everyone has kept very quiet about what his role will be in The Dark Knight Rises. All we know is that he works as a Gotham City Cop alongside Commissioner Gordon and many theories have been banded around about his true identity, with people guessing that he could be Robin.

Miranda Tate - Once again this is a character who seems to have been created for the movie with Miranda being described as "a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father's philanthropic endeavours for Gotham." But might this all be a ruse that will see her act as a villain? Maybe even Batman Begins villain Ra's al Ghul's daughter Talia