EXCLUSIVE: While Tom Hardy’s plan to play Mad Max in the George Miller-directed Mad Max: Fury Road has hit another delay, the fast-rising Hardy’s in the mix for another big film at Warner Bros. I’m told that Hardy has been set by his Inception director Chris Nolan for a lead role in the next Batman film at Warner Bros. Insiders are keeping the role secret and won’t even say if he’s up for a villain role, but that seems a reasonable assumption. Hardy has followed up Inception with lead roles in the Tomas Alfredson-directed adaptation of the John Le Carre novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and he’s currently starring with Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon in the McG-directed Fox comedy This Means War. CAA reps Hardy, who’s expected to return to Fury Road when it goes.