After a video of scenes from the first two movies, including footage with Heath Ledger as the Joker, Bale and Gordon-Levitt introduced Nolan.

"Every great story demands a great ending," Nolan said before showing the footage. "Here's something to wet your appetite. The conclusion to the trilogy..."

The intense footage of the Batman story shows the villain Bane, played by Tom Hardy ( Inception), announcing through his gas mask, "Let the games begin," as all the bridges of Manhattan begin to collapse.

The one-and-a-half minutes of footage showcase the new Batmobiles and Catwoman played by Anne Hathaway, who ends the clip with the line, "You should be as afraid of him as I am."

The all-star cast also features Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

The film's running time is an epic two hours and 45 minutes, according to the American AMC Theatre chain, which has scheduled a  Dark Knight marathon on July 19 prior to the midnight premiere of the film. It is expected to screen Batman Begins and  The Dark Knight, similar to the  Avengers stunt with the prior films.

The Dark Knight Rises releases July 19-20 from Australia and the UK to North America, then follows July 25-27 in France, Russia and Latin America, and the 28th in Japan.

UPDATE: Warner Bros. has since had the footage removed from most websites, and are keeping it off YouTube. MTV.com does have it, since it debuted at their awards ceremony. The preview did coincide with the release of the movie's 5th TV spot. Watch it below: