Joseph Gordon-Levitt Confirmed for The Dark Knight Rises, will play Alberto Falcone

The rumour mill at the centre of The Dark Knight Rises, follow up to Christopher Nolan's hugely successful Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008), has been working overdrive, and now it appears at least one of its predictions will come to fruition. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, rumoured from the beginning to join fellow Inception actor Tom Hardy in Rises, will play Alberto Falcone, Variety reports. Alberto is the son of mob boss Carmine Falcone, a major antagonist in Batman Begins, so his presence fits neatly into Nolan's story arc. He also moonlights as the villain Holiday in Nolan's favourite and most-referenced Batman story, The Long Halloween. It's rumoured that Selina Kyle (Catwoman, to be played by Anne Hathaway) will have an interesting relationship with Alberto, believing Carmine Falcone to be her father too, as she does in the comic Catwoman: When in Rome.

Variety also reports that British actress Juno Temple will be joining the cast. The youngster has impressed with roles in Atonement, Notes on a Scandal and most recently in the psychological drama Cracks alongside Eva Green. There's no news yet on who she might be playing other than it'll be a 'street-smart Gotham girl'. Holly Robinson could be a possibility; in the comics she is trained by Selina Kyle. She's also a lesbian, which as Black Swan proved, can do wonders for the marketing of a film. Another possibility could be Harley Quinn, since Temple could certainly pull off the gothic clown look.

Traditionally comic-book films struggle with the problem of packing in too many characters, think Spider-Man 3. But Nolan proved with Inception that he's extremely adept at balancing a large cast, and it certainly seems that he's building a similarly epic ensemble here. Excitement levels are beginning to bubble for the summer 2012 release.