Given the amount of The Dark Knight Rises material we've been seeing over the last eight months or so, it may be surprising to consider how little official marketing the WB has actually been doing.  With seven months until release, though, that's changing quickly, as the IMAX prologue will hit on select screens December 16th, which also happens to be the debut of a new trailer attached to Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

I like how the promotional material we've seen plays up that this film is a definite conclusion to the story that began in 2005's Batman Begins.  With so many franchises designed to play out indefinitely, there's something really appealing about a trilogy made with the understanding that endings provide a story's context and ultimate meaning.  Let's just hope that Bats goes out big.

The Dark Knight Rises will be our last opportunity to see Christian Bale in the cape and cowl, along with Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.  It'll also be our first and last time to hang out with the characters played by Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, and Matthew Modine.

The legend ends in theaters and IMAX on July 20, 2012.