In case anyone, for any reason whatsoever, had concerns that Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises would have a lot in common with Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin (you know, outside of featuring characters named Batman and Bane), Tom Hardy is here to put those fears to rest. In a recent interview with the UK's Channel 4 talk show Alan Carr: Chatty Man, the actor slated to play the Batman foe confirmed:

"Chris Nolan, again, will revisit that territory entirely so I wouldn't go by that [Schumacher's Batman and Robin]. Plus, that's a lot of weight to put on and I've got to start shooting in May. So I've got to get back up to that size again [presumably "again" referring to his bulked turn in Bronson] and I've got to get up to about 13-and-a-half or 14 stone [approx. 200 lbs.]. I'm 12-and-a-bit now [approx. 170 lbs.], so I've got three months to do that."

To check out a video of the interview, hit the jump. Hardy will join Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises on July 20th, 2012.

Here's Hardy's interview with Alan Carr [thanks to Batman-News for uploading the video]: