When The Dark Knight hits DVD on December 9th, it will cause hysteria not seen since … well, it hit theaters on July 18th. Part of it will be due to those devoted fans who were buying tickets on eBay, but also be due to it receiving one heck of a release. DVD Active gives us a few details on the DVD, and you can scope out some photos of this year’s hottest stocking stuffer below.

First comes the standard 1-disc edition, for those buyers who just don’t care about flashy extras or DVD art. There will be no bonus features on the one-disc, so buy carefully. True fans will be opting for the 2-disc set, which includes these delightful extras:

• Gotham Uncovered documentary
• Featurettes (Batman Tech: The Incredible Gadgets and Tools, Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of The Dark Knight)
• 6 episodes of Gotham Cable’s Premier News Program
• Galleries (The Joker Cards, Concept Art, Poster Art, Production Stills)
• Trailers and TV spots

And if that wasn’t enough, the 2-disc DVD art will feature alternate art under its cardboard sleeve — it seems the Joker savaged each and every one of them with markers and crayons (see gallery below).

There’s also a third edition the really hardcore among you will be standing in line for, and that’s the limited edition pictured above. It doesn’t come with additional features, but is secured in a steel DVD case and accompanied by a replica Batpod. As it’s not actually big enough to ride or pivot on walls, it’s useless to me. But it’s ideal for those of you with lots of desk space!

In related news: The brand new edition of Production Weekly lists Batman 3 as going into pre-production this February, with Christopher Nolan directing. PW is a pretty reliable trade source, though it’s odd to see news like that hit there before arriving in, say, Variety. As always, more info when it develops …