Christopher Nolan’s $250-million finale to his Batman-trilogy rolls into theatres this weekend, giving the masked avenger Bruce Wayne one last chance to kick evil to the curb. Here’s your chance to bone up on 10 bits of interesting trivia on Nolan’s grand finale to his superhero saga.

Risky business

Taking on Batman is an act that usually leaves bad guys badly bruised and maimed. But stuntmen and stuntwomen working on “The Dark Knight Rises” also experienced their fair share of knocks and bruises. 

During one skydiving scene, a stuntman parachutist crashed through the roof of a home in Cairngorm Gliding Club, Feshiebridge in Scotland and became wedged there after his failed landing.

Anne Hathaway’s stunt double also took a beating during the shooting of one riot scene. The double crashed into an IMAX camera during filming. She was not hurt, but the IMAX camera was destroyed.

Bale busts a move

Christian Bale is a man you don’t want to mess with once he’s donned his Batman gear.  However, as imposing as appears on screen off camera Bale danced in his costume and cracked jokes with the film’s crew. Reportedly, Bale said dancing relaxed him and helped him to keep his sanity shooting this US$250 million flick. As Bale later told reporters, when you’re head is being squeeze tightly by a costume, “Insanity would strike anyone.” 

Superhero suit

Hollywood stars have a taste for exquisite designer fabrics. But when you’re a comic book superhero like Batman, only high-tech polyurethane will do.

One hundred and ten separate pieces were worked into the Caped Crusader’s costume, which included a base layer of polyester to wick off Bale’s sweat and molded pieces of urethane panels on top to create Batman’s mighty body armour.

Hollywood fashion plate Anne Hathaway also passed on her usual silks and satins to play cat burglar Selina Kyle. Hathaway’s body-hugging cat suit was fashioned from polyurethane and spandex.

Hathaway wins

Some of Hollywood’s great beauties auditioned for the role of Catwoman Selina Kyle, including Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley. The role ultimately went to 29-year-old Hathaway, who later described herself as a nervous wreck after her audition. Hathaway based her strong, sinewy interpretation of Kyle in this movie on MGM “Golden Age” beauty Hedy Lamarr.

Long but good

At 165 minutes long, this is the longest Batman film released to date as well as the longest film that Christopher Nolan has ever directed.

Race for tickets

Six months before the release of “The Dark Knight Rises,” fans showed just how eager they were to see this movie.  In January of 2012, tickets for midnight IMAX showings in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco went on sale and sold out immediately. Since then, purchased tickets have surfaced for sale online for over US$100, far above the original price of US$17.50.

Location, location

The filming of “The Dark Knight Rises” began in India, around the town of Mehrangarh, Jodhpur in the Rajasthan state. Nolan thought the remote location made the perfect backdrop to create the film’s prison scene. The decision was sound, according to Batman star Bale.

“It was nice to mix it up and go to different places. It makes it an adventure,” Bale said in one of his interviews for this film.

“The locals thought we were nuts,” he added.

“We were out in 120-degree heat. I thought it was a great induction by fire into the whole thing.”

Three times lucky

Today most moviegoers have come to think of Christian Bale as the definitive Batman. Whether you agree or not, Bale, 38, is the first live action actor to portray the character of Batman/Bruce Wayne in three Batman films. American actor Kevin Conroy has played the role in seven animated films, including 2000’s “Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.”

Hardy says yes

Actor Tom Hardy accepted the role of Bane, this film’s terrorist bad guy, without reading one scripted word penned by director Nolan and his brother, Jonathan Nolan.

According to reports, Nolan cast the 34-year-old actor because he liked his portrayal of the closeted homosexual “Handsome Bob” in the 2008 film, “RocknRolla.” Hardy, however, believed that his work in the 2008 crime film “Bronson” had won him the part. Hardy later learned that Nolan had never seen this movie.

Nolan says no to 3-D

Bucking today’s Hollywood trend, Nolan refused to shoot “The Dark Knight Rises” in 3D. The 41-year-old British filmmaker has described the use of 3D in films as a “gimmick” in earlier interviews.

As the film’s final credits point out, “The Dark Knight Rises” was shot entirely on film. A good portion of Nolan’s movie was also shot in 70 mm IMAX, a move that gave “The Dark Knight Rises” a level of visual spectacle that was worthy of Batman.