It’s always a bummer when the whole of a story’s information can be summed up in the article title.
So yeah, Deadline says Tom Hardy has signed on to a role in Batman 3 following Mad Max‘s unfortunate delay. There’s absolutely no word on the role itself, and there is absolutely no reason to assume it’s that of a villain of any kind. He may very well be playing a baddie, but speculation to that effect is based purely on ass-notions and the fact that Hardy is great at being great.
The Bronson star was one of the many key pieces of badassery that made Inception such a fun experience as much as a mind-bending one, and it’s great (and completely unsurprising) to hear he’s keeping on the Nolan train.
Obviously we’ll update you when/if more information follows.
[And thanks to Tati, for getting this on my radar lickety-split.]