Batman 3 gets a release date

Batman 3

That's right folks, Batman 3 is on the way - despite having no official title, script, plot details, production schedule or any of the usual shenanigans that normally happen before the release of a film, Warner Brothers - the studio behind the bat - has announced a summer 2012 release for the follow up to The Dark Knigh t.

The Brothers Warner have certainly sat the bat amongst a heavy bevy of summer tentpoles, with The Avengers, Battleship, Star Trek 2 , and the Spider-Man re-jig all scheduled for the surrounding weeks - and it smacks of almighty confidence in Nolan and co that they'll have a completed product ready for launch.

The highly anticipated sequel follows on the heels of 2008's mega-blockbuster The Dark Knight , a film so successful it will make any attempt to follow it all the more difficult, let alone a film with a deadline of just over 2 years away.

With post production still wrapping on Nolan's latest, Inception , the director certainly has his work cut out for him. Let's hope it has no detrimental effect on the quality of Batman 3 - though if anyone can deliver, it's Nolan.