Latest ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ trailer shows off new stars and big booms

The third trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" hit the web Tuesday night following a viral campaign with clues placed in cities across the globe. This new preview gives the best look yet at scale and seriousness of the conclusion to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.

There are plenty of standout moments in the new footage. In addition to a plane being skyjacked in mid-air (part of the six-minute opening that screened in front of "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" last December) and an entire football field collapsing under the players, there is a new shot with two of Gotham City's bridges blowing up and falling into the water. And there looks to be plenty of panic and violence in the streets, all lead by Batman's new masked adversary, Bane (Tom Hardy).

But there are some significant character revelations in this new trailer from both the returning actors and the new additions to the cast. We see some sly banter from Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) as she dances with Bruce Wayne at a costume ball (and later we get a brief look at her kicking butt in her skintight unitard). There are several new looks at Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a Gotham City police officer. Gordon-Levitt's "Inception" costar Marion Cotillard is only briefly seen, but she does share a passionate kiss with Christian Bale.

Tom Hardy as Bane and Christian Bale as Batman
Tom Hardy as Bane and Christian Bale as Batman

One interesting note is there does seem to be a noticeable difference between the treatment of Bane's voice from the last trailer to this new one. With his mouth obscured by his breathing apparatus, there were complaints that Bane's dialogue was too hard to understand. In the just-released video, Tom Hardy's voice sounds sharper and less muffled, with an added deep resonance that wasn't there before.

Of course, you have to end your trailer on a high note, and this one does just that. The final shot gives the best look to date at Batman's new aerial vehicle, reportedly just called "The Bat." It does an acrobatic twist over a skyscraper to evade two missiles, showing two whirring propellers underneath.

"The Dark Knight Rises" opens July 20.