Will 'Dark Knight Rises' Score At The Oscars?

Yes, I know, we just finished this year's show. But it's never too late to look ahead at next year's Academy Awards, particularly when 2012 represents such a massive year for movies. There are all sorts of excellent films coming our way in the next several months, both big and small, though perhaps none more exciting than Christopher Nolan's third and final trip to Gotham City.

Of course, Nolan has done the Oscar dance with Batman in the past, to mixed degrees of success. Yes, Heath Ledger won a much deserved posthumous Best Supporting Actor for playing Joker in "The Dark Knight." But that wasn't satisfying to many fans who believed that "Dark Knight" should have been honored as a Best Picture nominee. To date, it's an oversight that still rubs the geek community the wrong way.

But there's a chance for redemption come next year's Oscars. With the Best Picture field opened up to as many as ten nominees (a decision likely triggered by the "Dark Knight" omission in 2009's telecast), the chances of "Dark Knight Rises" succeeding where its predecessors were shut out are considerably higher — assuming the film is as amazing as we all hope it to be, of course.

So, yes, we're a year away from our next Oscars presentation, and countless excellent (and overrated) movies will come and go before then. But right here, right now, make your early prediction: will "Dark Knight Rises" finally bring Batman a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars? Vote in our poll past the break.

Explain your choice in the comments section or hit us up on Twitter!