"The Batman has to come back." "What if he doesn't exist anymore?"

Yes, the Dark Knight Rises official trailer has turned up online. And it's officially brilliant.

Ok, it amounts to little more than a compilation of Christopher Nolan's previous Batman films followed by 20 seconds of Gary Oldman in bed, but it's still pretty exciting.

The only sad part is that it's got generic title cards like "Every hero has a journey". You know what that means? That flipping Dark Knight Rises trailer description WAS RIGHT. Dammit.

Oh well, there's always that quick glimpse of Tom Hardy as Bane to put in me in a good mood. 

The Dark Knight Rises on Friday 20th July 2012. Read on for the full video.

As if The Wire, Thor, and Luther weren't enough to prove his talents, Idris Elba has gone and done the impossible: replaced Morgan Freeman. The American Gangster actor will now play Dr Alex Cross in the detective's next cinema outing.

Adapted from James Patterson's latest book, Cross, the thriller sees Cross looking at retirement from the FBI, only to come across a serial killer who may have murdered his wife. It's a typical trilogy-closer plot, but Freeman, who played Cross in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider, was knocked off the project by the producers, who are looking for some younger blood.

In another departure from Freeman's two outings, the film will be financed independently, away from Paramount. David Twohy, who is currently touching up Kerry Williamson's script, will direct the movie. Which is quite reassuring - despite the Riddick slip-ups, A Perfect Getaway reminded the world that Twohy is a dab hand when it comes to thrillers. And that Elba guy is pretty darn decent too.

DC have hit back at Marvel at Comic-Con with the release of the second trailer for upcoming movie Red. The first trailer gave us a lot of Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren as ex-CIA agents, with a little splash of young enemy Karl Urban for good measure. With the second, we get a lot more of John Malkovich.

Willis, Mirren, Malkovich and Morgan Freeman are all old now. Past it. But soon they get labelled as Retired and Extremely Dangeous, so the old team get back together to stop the secret service's whippersnappers from wiping them out.

Expanded from a solo piece into an ensemble from Warren Ellis' graphic novel, it's a pretty simple and obvious idea - old people kick ass - but when your old people are "the queen and God" (as Mirren put it during the Comic-Con panel) you can't really argue. With stuff blowing up, Mirren shooting people, and Malkovich doing the crazies, Red is shaping up to be quite a lot of fun. Not least because it allows Karl Urban to get his geek on. Again. What with Star Trek, Priest, Judge Dredd and this, that guy is now a legend for all sci-fi comic book fans.

The trailer's online over at Apple.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Adjoa Andoh
Certificate: 12A
Trailer

He's played God, the US President, and a countless number of doctors and detectives. It was only a matter of time before Morgan Freeman, a man of immense gravitas and presence, took on the role he was born to play: Nelson Mandela. Effortlessly adopting his mannerisms, physical poise and slow, studied speech, Morgan makes for a sound statesman. It's just his statesman doesn't sound like Nelson Mandela. So every time you look at Mandela, you think one thing: Morgan Freeman.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman
Certificate: TBC
Release Date: Friday 5th February

Award winning Director Clint Eastwood and Warner Bros. Pictures brings us Invictus which hits UK cinemas nationwide from 5th February 2010. Having already been nominated for an array of Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Awards as well as being hotly tipped for Oscar® success, Invictus tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to help unite their country.

Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa’s underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match. 

Morgan Freeman. Nelson Mandela. Clint Eastwood. The signs were all there long ago that Invictus would be a phenomenal piece of film-making. Now, you can witness for yourself the trailer, which sees Mandela's post-Robben Island push to unite South Africa behind the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.

With the blacks cheering for England, the whites for their own country, he fights with Springboks captain Francious Pienaar (Matt Damon) to win both the tournament and the people. Based on John Carlin's book, Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandel and the Game that Made a Nation, Invictus means "unconquered", and comes from William Ernest Henley's poem. Eastwood's underdog drama is made of win. It hits our shores in February, but you can see the trailer over at Apple, or read on for the full video and poster.