‘Dark Knight Rises’ Teaser Poster Revealed

Here’s a simple question for you: do you think Christopher Nolan likes skyscrapers? After the posters for “The Dark Knight,” “Inception,” and now “The Dark Knight Rises,” one can only answer emphatically — yes.

The teaser is quite simple: a view of Gotham City falling apart as seen from the ground, with the only visible sky forming the shape of a bat. I will ‘fess up and say it took me 45 seconds or thereabouts to notice the bat, which I think says less about me and more about the genius of this poster.

Yes, I’m a dork and yes I think everything Nolan does is brilliant, but the poster already has some artistic/poetic hints to give about the final film of the trilogy. For one, I think there’s a definite notion here that Gotham’s been turned upside down. The chunks of debris seem to be moving upward toward the sky as opposed to falling down, yet the sky holds that one symbol of hope of course — Batman. I think the fact that I saw the city image first and then the bat image suggests a little of the context here in terms of how the city views Batman. Remember “The Dark Knight” ended with Batman on the run and this assuming of the mantle of “the Dark Knight,” that of the vigilante that will never be seen as a true hero.

Get ready to have your world turned upside-down on July 20, 2012.