'The Dark Knight Rises' Viral Marketing Picks Up Steam

One of the many things that made The Dark Knight such a success was it's massive marketing campaign, one that had images like the Joker's face paint and the phrase "I believe in Harvey Dent" ingrained in the public consciousness long before the movie was released.  We haven't yet seen nearly as much about it with the marketing for its sequel, but that may be something that changes with what's been popping up in the last few days.

Two fake CIA reports were leaked to both Variety and Wired detailing the top secret actions of one Dr. Leonid Pavel, a nuclear physicist seeking safe transportation to the USA.  The only clear connection these reports have to The Dark Knight Rises are the pictures of Dr. Pavel, who show he's played by Israeli actor Alon Abutbul.  Abutbul has previously been named as an actor in the film, playing a "mad scientist".  You can see the documents here if you haven't yet.

But it doesn't end there.  Just a few hours ago, the twitter account "fire rises" (the same account that revealed the first photo of Bane) posted another fake CIA message saying something about "Operation Early Bird".  Head over to operationearlybird.com and you'll see a counter saying that the operation will commence in less then a day.  So, whatever that means, its one Dark Knight Rises surprise you won't a have to wait long to see.  This, combined with the prologue that people who watch Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in 70mm IMAX and the trailer people who go see Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows gives me chills just thinking about it.  For a while it seemed like the franchise's popularity might make Warner Bros. not give it a strong viral ad campaign, but I'm happy to say that doesn't seem to be the case.

On a related note, it's been announced that Jerry Robinson, creator of the Joker, has passed away.  Whether you read the Batman comics or just watch the movies, he gave us one of the best super villains ever, and his death is quite a loss.