"The Dark Knight Rises" is still more than half a year from its release date, but that doesn't mean it's too early to start teasing, enticing, bedeviling and pretty much tormenting the public with maddeningly cryptic hints about the superhero film's contents.
Also read: "Dark Knight Rises" Prologue Hitting 32 IMAX Theaters in U.S.
An early indication of what viewers have in store arrived at Wired on Wednesday, in the form of a bogus CIA memo on Dr. Leonid Pavel, a Russian nuclear physicist who's gone missing and might possibly be seeking political asylum in the United States.
Also read: Can Bane Measure Up to the Joker in "The Dark Knight Rises"?
"Given Dr. Pavel's expertise on nuclear fuel cycle technology and reactor designs there is concern that various militants in the region could be responsible for his disappearance … Pavel is deemed a high-priority. As such, a search and extract operation is recommended immediately," the memo abruptly, and ominously, ends.
Could things be getting nuclear between Batman and Bane, his adversary this time out?
Could be — and no doubt, Warner Bros. will be dropping other intriguing tidbits between now and July. Meanwhile, the "Dark Knight Rises" prologue — which will play in front of "Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol" in select IMAX theaters starting Dec. 16 — might also offer a few clues.
Have a theory about how the CIA memo — and Dr. Pavel — will fit into "The Dark Knight Rises"? Share it in the comments section.