Tom Hardy an Early Pick for Next 'Batman' Movie

Sounds like Tom Hardy has snagged a spot in the already highly-anticipated third Batman movie from director Christopher Nolan. While the news has yet to be confirmed by Warner Bros., Deadline reports that Nolan has picked Tom up for an unspecified lead role.

No news on whether that means he'll be facing off against Christian Bale, but it seems likely Tom would be brought in as the latest in a long line of dynamic villains created by Nolan. The actor's stock has been rising quickly ever since audiences responded to his supporting role in this summer's Nolan blockbuster Inception, and he's got three movies coming down the pike in 2011. He's also been slated to play the lead in a new Mad Max movie helmed by original director George Miller, but the project has hit a number of delays in pre-production.

While Internet rumors have mostly circled around the Riddler being Batman's nemesis in the third movie, Nolan is notoriously tight-lipped on such subjects. As for hints he's only said that he's not interested in using any characters with super powers. Nolan has been adamant that his Batman movies are set in a more realistic world where such powers don't exist.

Inception Actor Tom Hardy Talks About Having Had Sex with Men

We’re so used to men being so uncomfortable about their sexuality but actor Tom Hardy certainly isn’t!

A star of the box office smash Inception, Tom talked to Daily Mail and was asked if he’d ever had sexual relations with a man. Here’s his surprisingly candid answer: “As a boy? Of course I have. I’m an actor for God's sake. ‘I’ve played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now that I’m in my thirties, it doesn’t do it for me. I’m done experimenting but there’s plenty of stuff in a relationship with another man, especially gay men, that I need in my life. A lot of gay men get my thing for shoes. I have definite feminine qualities and a lot of gay men are incredibly masculine.’”

The 32-year-old actor (pictured below in a scene from Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio) is engaged to British actress Charlotte Riley, 28, and also has a two-year-old son with a former girlfriend.

In Guy Ritchie’s hit film Rock’n'Rolla, Tom starred as gay gangster Handsome Bob who had a crush on Gerard Butler.