Catwoman In Batman 3? Depends Who You Listen To

Will we see Maggie Gyllenhaal's Rachel Dawes in any potential sequel to The Dark Knight? Certain rumors are saying that we will, although she may be going under a much more familiar guise than we've seen her so far. Explanations and Dark Knight spoilers under the jump.

Hollywood Newsroom is claiming that any and all rumors that Angelina Jolie may be playing Catwoman in a potential third Chris Nolan Batman movie are false... because Maggie Gyllenhaal will be taking on the catcowl next:

Regarding Batman 3 rumors, we’re not going to guess if the next super villain is the Riddler (Johnny Depp) or the Penguin (Philip Seymour Hoffman). That’s all speculation at this point. But we do know two facts, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Aaron Eckhart signed on for two Bat-pictures. We’re not going to talk The Dark Knight spoilers, but hmmm. Nine lives indeed. Our source close to Maggie Gyllenhaal confirmed that she’s excited about the next movie, “why else would she, or Katie Holmes for that matter, take on the thankless roll of Rachel Dawson? After Katie left the roll, they could’ve create a new character. But that wasn’t part of Nolan’s plan. This is the trajectory he’s planned for Rachel since the first movie. Not only is Maggie contractually obligated, but she’s already getting in shape for Batman 3.”

Before you get too excited, bear these two things in mind: Firstly, Rachel got blown up and is dead, people. Okay, so there are some ways around that (Ra's Al Ghul, the villain from Batman Begins, has a certain way around death in the comics, after all), but so far Nolan has stayed away from openly superhuman/supernatural elements. More importantly, however, screenwriter on the movies David Goyer has already said that we won't be seeing Catwoman (or, for that matter, the Penguin) in the next movie:

Batman has been published for 70 years. In the first movie, we used Ra's Al Ghul and the Scarecrow, who had not been in the movies before, and had not been in the '60s TV show before... There are dozens if not hundreds of other characters that fit that bill. Everyone says it's got to be the Penguin or Catwoman [in the next film]... well I completely disagree.

So, there you go: No Angelina Jolie, no Maggie Gyllenhaal, and no Catwoman at all. Now, Johnny Depp as the Riddler? Unlikely... especially considering that Nolan has said that he's not even thinking about a third movie right now. But who could've seen Ledger as the Joker before it was announced?

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