News broke yesterday that director Christopher Nolan is on the hunt for two leading ladies for "The Dark Knight Rises," with six different actresses reported as the front runners for the job: Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway and Keira Knightley.

The characters that these actresses would be playing remains unclear, but even without that information, we can still imagine what it might be like if one or more of them winds up in Gotham City for the third Batman film.

If you're experiencing some déjà vu in hearing Rachel Weisz' name connected to a Batman movie, don't worry, you're not crazy. The popular actress had her name batted around as a Catwoman contender in December of 2008, though no official confirmations or denials followed. Now that her name has reemerged, the idea of Weisz popping up in "The Dark Knight Rises" remains a compelling one nearly two years later -- though I'd recommend her for Bruce Wayne's love interest, not the villain.

"Fair Game" actress Naomi Watts, on the other hand, is an ideal choice for a female villain. Although she excels with sympathetic characters, there's a very black widow-esque quality to Watts that would work wonderfully opposite Christian Bale and, heck, even Tom Hardy. Whether she's playing Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn or some other Bat-baddie, Watts would do a terrific job in Nolan's next comic book adaptation.

The "Gossip Girl" actress is an automatic no, at least from my perspective, and I think many fans would agree with me: already starring as Carol Ferris in "Green Lantern," two separate leading roles in the DC Universe is just too much. If she was vying for a Marvel job -- a la Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan and Deadpool -- it would be a different story, but as it stands, she should stay home at Coast City.

Already mentioned as a strong pick for Catwoman in a previous Secret Identity column, I'm pretty excited about the idea of Natalie Portman booking a trip to Gotham City. The idea of Portman performing under the guidance of Chris Nolan is alluring, to say the least, and the only real problem I can see is her "Thor" commitment. But as I just mentioned, DC and Marvel are different universes -- if Reynolds can dabble in both worlds, no reason Portman can't either.

Remember the time when Anne Hathaway was this close to playing Black Cat in Sam Raimi's fourth "Spider-Man" movie? It appears that that ship has sailed, but there's no reason she can't tap into her status as a feline fatale with a role in Nolan's third Batman flick. The actress would be great as Selina Kyle -- perhaps not as strong for the Caped Crusader's other female villains -- and, honestly, even better as Bruce Wayne's next sweetheart.

Already a veritable dead ringer for Natalie Portman -- so much so that she played one of Portman's dopplegangers in the "Star Wars" prequels -- I have little problem with Keira Knightley joining the Batman universe, for all the same reasons I endorse Portman. The actress has a ferocious quality that could work extremely well in Nolan's Gotham, though in my heart of hearts, she isn't my very first choice for a role in "The Dark Knight Rises."

Who would you like to see in the next Batman movie? Tell us your picks in the comments and on Twitter!