Empire has released copies of its two cover shots for their December issue. One is Christian Bale as The Dark Knight and the other is his latest nemesis, the ‘bane of his existence’ if you will, Bane, played by Tom Hardy. (Real name Dorrance, first name unknown.)  Hardy himself has called his character “…brutal. He’s a terrorist. A really horrible piece of work.” (He survives on snake venom. That would make anyone nasty.)

The pics and news, other than the actual plot, have leaked from the set of The Dark Knight Rises throughout its nearly four month shoot, (which had to have pissed off Christopher Nolan, who likes to keep a tight rein on things, but if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em). Now that filming has finally wrapped, Warner Bros. is now cranking up the machine and starting to mete out the first little bits of what will undoubtedly be blanket media and marketing from now until the July 20 release date. Reportedly there will be a full-length trailer attached to Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,  as well as a six-minute prologue in front of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, both of which open December 16 here in the US. How brilliant is that? Anyone on the fence about which of those films to see has just had their minds made up…BOTH!

Speaking of both, Empire asked its readers which cover they wanted and that was their response.

Below we’ve got some pics of Tom Hardy and his luscious lips, unencumbered by Bane’s Alien-esque face mask. You’re welcome.