By: Scott Johnson on March 24, 2012
This summer, the Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers will battle it out for box office supremacy. However, right now, there is a bigger battle going on between which film has the biggest secret. The Avengers movie trailers have been pretty clear about the fact that Loki has a mystery army, but whether a mystery villain even exists in The Dark Knight Rises has been a closely guarded secret.
In the Dark Knight Rises trailers, the only villains that are revealed are Bane and Catwoman. There have been rumors about Marion Cotillard having a secret role, but the Dark Knight Rises trailer does nothing to suggest she is anything other than Wayne Enterprise board member Miranda Tate. In fact, if not for online stores promoting a Batman Dark Knight Rises Movie Master Secret Character, there would be very little evidence that a mystery villain even exists.
This secrecy is in direct contrast to The Avengers trailers which seem to delight in giving fans fleeting glimpses of the mysterious aliens. The mystery aliens have been acknowledged by the film’s director Joss Whedon, and he’s even teased fans over who the aliens are not. Screen captures of the aliens have been compared with various Marvel Comics alien races, and virtually every website on the Internet has a different theory as to who makes up Loki’s army.
Even though The Dark Knight Rises has kept it under wraps as to if there even is a mystery villain, while The Avengers has pretty much flaunted it in everyone’s face that there is a mystery army, both have been successful so far in keeping their biggest secret a secret. However, will both films or either film be able to maintain this secrecy until the movies are actually released in theaters? Will The Avengers strategy of showing just enough to not give it away hold up or will someone finally crack the code? Will the Dark Knight Rises strategy of saying nothing pay off or will secret set images leak out?
Which is more fun? The way that The Avengers is teasing or the way that The Dark Knight Rises is staying silent. On the one hand, The Avengers is extending the fun of guessing, while the Dark Knight Rises is truly attempting to preserve the complete element of surprise.
