When Tom Hardy was originally cast as a lead in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” early speculations lead many to believe that he would be cast as the new villain. Namely, the murderous Killer Croc.

IMDB has recently updated their cast list and in a surprising twist, Hardy is not listed as a villain but rather Detective Harvey Bullock! Of course, as some people may or may not know that IMDB is sort of a Wikipedia for movie news. Namely it’s not often accurate. So until we can get an official confirmation from WB, Hardy as Bullock will remain an interesting and plausible rumor.

The character Harvey Bullock has been featured in previous Batman films. He is a corrupt police officer known for taking bribes and using excessive police brutality tactics. He turns a new leaf however and develops a close working relationship with the Dark Knight as well as Commissioner Gordon.

Bullock is usually depicted as a greasy fat cop, so Hardy doesn’t really fit the description. I guess it’ll be a wait and see. All we really know is, Hardy has a lead role, villain reformed cop or not. So his presence in “The Dark Knight Rises” will be pretty major.