The Dark Knight's Newest Super-Foe is... Pollution

infectious bacteria batman begins

He's already handled the Joker, the Penguin, Scarecrow and a host of other super-villains; in Hong Kong's bacteria-infested waters, however, he may have finally met his match. The team directing Batman's next cinematic outing, The Dark Knight, recently decided to pull a scene in which the brooding justice fighter would have had to jump out of a cargo plane into the sea, citing health concerns.

Hong Kong's waters are notorious for containing high levels of extremely virulent bacteria; the team obviously thought Christian Bale would've had much more to worry about than a simple cold. A recent article in the South China Morning Post, quoting a production team source, said: "The plan was for Batman to be seen jumping into the water and then climbing up some bamboo, or something similar, on to a pier. But when they checked a water sample, they found all sorts of things, salmonella and tuberculosis, so it was cancelled. Now the action will cut to inside a building."

Bill Ballantine, a New Zealand-based marine biologist, deemed Hong Kong's waters one of the world's worst marine environments. Though city officials have been busy tackling the pollution that has plagued Victoria Harbour's waters - having recently completed stage one of their Harbour Area Treatment Scheme - they acknowledged that swimmers would have to wait at least until 2009 before diving in.

Guess we'll have to make do with Batman taking his heroic antics to a drier environment.

Via ::Guardian Unlimited: Hong Kong's bacteria are too much for Batman (news website)

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