Rumors on both accounts, I honestly doubt the Joker would've returned. I think they would've made mention of him but they were going with new villians from the get go. Not sure if Bane was the original plan or if anyone outside of Christopher Nolan thought about using him. The dude playing Bane is no joke, look up the trailer for Warrior, he is in that movie. The only thing I do not like about this so far, is that its the entire Inception cast minus DeCaprio, look up the cast from that movie and look up the cast for this one, there is like 7 or 8 of them in it.
Depp was rumored for The Riddler, much like Joseph Gordon Levitt who is in this movie. He has also been rumored to play Black Mask, but for now is listed as a cop. Give me Robin Williams as Hugo Strange! There are rumors of another villian be it Thalia Al Guhl (Ra's daughter), plus theres a character named Nixon who is not in the comics so ppl think its a cover name for another better known villian. Purely speculation.
Catwoman is in this film as well as Ras Al Ghul, to what extent is still unknown. I hope Bane breaks batman, but he will ultimately rise, hence the name of the film. I have a feeling that someone dies though be it Gordon, Alfred and even rumors of Batman possibly being killed off since this is the last movie in Nolans series. A reboot will be done in a few years anyways so this will all be a mute point then.
I just hope this movie isn't a letdown, its gonna be pretty hard to top The Dark Knight. Plus there is a ton of hype for this movie and its a year away from even coming out. I know where I will be when it does come out though, hello Imax!
Sorry inner comic movie nerdyness came out lol.