Just a warning: this could be the real deal, or this could be just some really well done fan work. I hope it is the real deal, but if it isn’t, kudos to whoever created it. First of all, I have to give credit where credit is due: Movie Viral is the site that tipped me off about this. Thanks guys!
Apparently, there is a YouTube Channel for TheFireRises. Three videos have been posted to the channel, and all three are really grainy and kind of hard to really make out what is going on. They were released on three consecutive days, one a day, from May 28 – May 30. The first of the videos, titled “419,” shows a city being ravaged by fires. Could this be Gotham City?
Hooded prisoners are being lined up and mistreated in this second video, entitled “Outbreak,” which then shifts focus to the view from a car in a tunnel (and we know from “The Dark Knight,” there are several such tunnels in Gotham City).
The third and (at this point) final video is called “GCN,” standing for Gotham City News. This one is the most interesting one to me, because it has footage of Anthony Michael Hall, who played a reporter in “The Dark Knight” as well as in several videos in the marketing for that movie. I can’t tell if this is footage that was recycled (which would probably mean that this was a fake) or if it is brand new footage. As of right now, Anthony Michael Hall has not been cast in “The Dark Knight Rises,” but maybe 42 Entertainment retains his likeness for future marketing campaigns? The video shows news footage about a massive breakout from Arkham – something that could definitely be a plot point of this movie. In the comics, Bane releases all the criminals from Arkham to push Batman to his absolute limits so that he would be beyond exhausted once Bane finally confronted him. This could very well be what we are seeing what with the breakout and the fires all over Gotham. It definitely works well with the “The Fire Rises” slogan, which seems to be this film’s “Why So Serious?”
You may have noticed that, towards the end of the last video, a URL flashes across the screen (www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fire-Rises/219657001385788), which leads to a Facebook page for The Fire Rises. There is only one picture posted by the administration on that page, and it is of recently added cast member Matthew Modine, who is playing a politician named Nixon. Supposedly, Nixon becomes a villain of sorts in the film.
Is this legit? I am thinking no. The logo for the channel on YouTube is clearly fan made. That is my biggest warning that this might not be real. But it is INCREDIBLY creative. So I’ll have fun with it none-the-less. I hope it is real, though.
Viral Infection 