Set photos from Dark Knight Rises reveal a plot point

Shooting has finally begun on the final film in the new Batman trilogy, and these grainy stills from the set give us a clue to the film’s plot.

The photos show a shooting crew, and one of the stars of the film, Josh Pence, who is playing ‘young Ra’s al Ghul’, on an outdoor set in Jodhpur, India, though we’ll have to trust them on that point, as no one’s face is very clear.

So what are we looking at here?

It appears to be a wide, shallow fit with green taps covering the bottom. There is only one good reason to build a set like this: a real top for a deeper pit.

The green tarps would be replaced with CGI depicting a much deeper pit, which the characters can stand near, and look down into.

With Pence nearby, there is a logical conclusion: Ra’s al Ghul’s Lazarus Pit will be in the movie. Likely, knowing how these things go, it will be one of the first scenes. This is supported by the fact that Liam Neeson, who played Ra’s al Guhl in the first movie is not returning to this film.

The overture for the film will likely begin with Batman kicking some badguys’ asses around Gotham, perhaps even introducing the secondary villain/rival for the film – Catwoman.

Then it will cut over to the Lazarus pit, with Ra’s al Guhl emerging from the pit -probably in his little crane cage thing – , then stepping away from the bit, looking back at it mysteriously while some pretty servant girl, or perhaps his daughter, greets his newly rejuvenated self – maybe even handing him a robe, if they want to take the opportunity to show off Pence’s buttocks.

If they really want to do it up, he might even make some remark about “okay, now we can leave for Gotham,” or something like that.

Dark Knight Rises is planned for a Summer 2012 release.