More pictures from the set of 'The Dark Knight Rises' - and why they bother me

Too many Bat-toys?

You know what I disliked most about Christopher Nolan's first Batman movie? You don't care, but I am going to tell you anyway.

The Batmobile. Or Bat-Tank. Or whatever you want to call it.

The legend of Batman is about the character - the hero cloaked in darkness both literal and figurative. Patrolling as a shadowy figure on the rooftops and in the alleys of Gotham City at night makes him as real as the evil that he has sworn over his parents' graves to fight. Put him behind the wheel of even the most bad-ass of crime-fighting vehicles and part of me expects him to pull into the local Dunkin' Donuts for some late night brew, a Danish and to flirt with the waitress.

Mr. Bane, did you lose something?

I had the same mixed feelings during Tim Burton's first Bat-movie, when Michael Keaton went after Jack Nicholson in his Bat-plane. Moreso after Nicholson's Joker shot him down with a handgun.

That's the same feeling I experienced in "Batman Begins." It was magnified when Commissioner Gordon hopped behind the wheel of the Batmobile and almost instantly mastered the highest of Batman's high-tech weapons.

Now I'm getting that familiar, uneasy I'm-not-so-sure-about-this vibe over some of the latest photographs from the set of Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises." First, there's Bane's so-called "doomsday" device. It's so-so. What's really bothersome are the pictures (courtesy of Super Hero Hype) of what is being called the Bat-wing, which Bruce Wayne apparently will use to remove the Bane Bomb before it goes off.

Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I prefer my Batman using his muscles to combat evil. Brains, too. But leave the toys to the Gotham City Police Department SWAT team.

Besides, whenever I think of "Batman" and "bomb," this comes to mind: