I’ve seen a surprising amount of nerd rage regarding the casting of Tom Hardy as Bane in the upcoming Batman flick. Near as I can figure the rage is there because Bane was created in the 90’s and 90’s comics are considered bad. Well that’s hardly a robust criticism of a character with a two decades worth of stories to draw from, so I wanted to come to the big guy's defense.
1) Bane is realistic
In Nolan’s world of Batman there is nothing supernatural. It is for all intents and purposes our world, there may be a flower that creates hallucinations we don’t have or your face burns may not get infected as quickly as they should, but these are relatively minor concerns when juxtaposed against magic space rings.
So who is Bane? He’s an angry dude who got ‘roided up in prison and sought out Batman as his equal and rival. It’s a basic enough premise that I could see Nolan working with very well. io9 has a really nice history of the character available if you want some of the details. In the comics when written well he’s wicked smart as much as he is a physical powerhouse. Which brings me to my next point…
2) Batman needs a physical challenge
So far in the Nolan-verse the most challenging physical confrontation Batman has had was Liam Neeson. And I think Liam is great, but he’s also kind of an old man. It’s high time Batman actually had a challenge that was physical as much as mental, because that’s the wonderful balancing act Batman is supposed to play. He's supposed to be as much of a physical fighter s he is the analytic detective. In The Dark Knight Batman takes down an entire SWAT Team so I think it will be cool to see him have to take on one man who is more powerful than him.
To those of your concerned that Tom Hardy is a bit of a pretty boy because you saw him in Inception I'd like to alert you to another film he did called Bronson. This is my Tom Hardy as Bane mental image, and it's just about perfect. Remember when Bale did a little movie called The Machinist? I wouldn't have cast that guy as Batman. But American Psycho? Rich muscled-up crazy person who does scary things at night, now we're getting somewhere.
And seriously, got watch Bronson, it's messed up, about prisons (like Bane) and real!
3) Obsession
In the grim and gritty Gotham Nolan created characters are fueled by obsession almost as much as food. Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent are both obsessed with justice. The Joker is obsessed with chaos. Sometimes the movtivations behind the obsession are explained, others not. Bane is obsessed with being the best, becoming the ruler of Gotham, which means bringing down The Bat. Too me that's more engaging than a simple mobster like the Penguin or a neurotic buffoon like the Riddler.
So those are my thoughts. That's why I think Bane will be a great addition to the trilogy. Did I convince you? Still upset? Vent the remaining nerd rage in the comments!
Ryan Haupt would have cast Javier Bardem, but nobody asked him.
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“You like Phil Collins?” If Bruce Wayne starts talking about 80s music in grandiose detail, run.
Honestly, I don’t think it’s the whole “90s comics” thing that’s bothering people. In fact, the lead problem I’ve heard from fans is that they’re casting a British actor for a man who’s at least half-Latin.
I’ll have to agree with you, Bane is a nice addition to the mix and he’ll prove to be a great oponent in the Nolah-verse, the problem might be the way they might add catwoman… I don’t want to see her as another 2 minute villan
@DarkKnightJared I’m latin and I don’t give a rats ass
@DarkKnightJared lol – I’ve not heard any complaint from “latin” groups about Nolan taking a latin murderous supervillain and making him British.
@drunkyoda – I feel like Catwoman will be a Robin Hood Burgler type. I also think that this new movie will be a little less subdued and be a little bit less grandious than the previous two, but I’m fine with that.
@Haupt Perfect article. I’ll send it to all my friends who still don’t believe Bane could be a convincing (and serious) threat in the Nolanverse.
@AmirCat She has to be more hardcore than that, Nolah has made every villan hardcore and a simple cat burglar is not hardcore enough
Nice article.
As long as it’s nothing like the Bane we saw in BATMAN AND ROBIN, then I think we’re fine.
They just have to make sure that Bane is Smart and Strong, change the costume a little too. I’m good with whatever Nolan does, he hasn’t made a mistake yet so I havn’t just given him a lot of leeway, I’ve given him a leeway factory.
I suspect people upset about Bane were
a) hoping for a more classic rogue from the roster (which, to be fair, they’re getting with Catwoman) or
b) think that there’s no “there” there when it comes to Bane. I tend to fall into the latter camp, but really all that boils down to is that I don’t know Bane’s story, not that he doesn’t have one. The sum total of my Bane knowledge is that one back-breaking issue and his mute cameo in Batman And Robin. I’m unintentionally applying “personal continuity” to the character as if all I know about him is all there is to know. And I shouldn’t do that.
Besides, I think Nolan has earned our trust by now to at least do something interesting.
The problem with Bane is that his debut is part of (at least what the majority of fans think) one of the worst Batman stories ever with Knightfall.
But Knightfall’s a pretty good story and it does make Bane more then just a ‘Hulk’ like villain. He’s very cunning and his plan actually works and is pretty smart. If the stories AFTER Bane breaks his back that we get the problems.
I’m in.
I’m totally for Bane as the villain in the next movie. If you step away from the bad comics and look at the character description he makes perfect sense.
I have the suspicion that they’re going to slightly rework Bane’s story so that Bane is a prisoner that Batman was personally responsible for putting in prison. The Nolan films seem to have a running theme going about the seeming futility of, or facing the consequences of, Batman’s vigilante crusade. A formally much more benign criminal becoming incensed and roided up, an ultimately more dangerous, as a result of his experience in prison sounds just like the kind of theme Nolan would work with in his Batman movies.
Remember when Mickey Rourke was cast as Whiplash, and everyone thought “Whiplash? What a lame villain. And Mickey Rourke? No way.” Then everyone scoffed at the first image we got of him in the orange jump suit and hi-tech bondage gear? Then just about everyone loved him in Iron Man II? I bet this will turn out like that.
You convinced me! Well done!
“Bronson” is available on Netflix streaming right now. I’m watching it! I can’t believe this is the same guy from “Inception.”
I think my problem with Bane has always been with his outfit. I don’t care how fancy a man’s roids are, that tank top or singlet he wears is ridiculous looking. I’m amazed more superheroes don’t mock his style. Replacing it with suspenders like in the picture at the top of this article wasn’t an improvement though.
I’m fine with Bane. I’m just disappointed there were no casting announcements for Detective Chimp and Batmite. I was thinking Tom Cruise in a dual role.
Do people hate knightfall? I always thought it was awesome! I loved that whole era of batman comics, and when I was a kid it was a great introduction to batmans deeper rogues gallery. Plus, 14 year old me LOVED Azrael. Sword of Azrael should be a batman movie, people forget how great that was. Not all 90’s comics sucked, but then again I bought and enjoyed fantastic force for nearly 2 years so what do I know
Bane is awesome in Secret Six, but I doubt that’s the character angle they’ll go for in the next movie.
@kennyg I know! So crazy different.
@stuclach second
great article!
Agreed. I thought of the same thing when I saw Bane. Well, I did think Really? Then thought, no this makes sense. Batman needs an equal physically and mentally, that’s what Bane was suppose to be.
@jmstump Or superior… he needs an equal and the joker he was an oposite, Bane can be his dragon???
Tom Hardy renders all complaints moot. This guy is the Robert Oppenheimer of movie acting.
I remeber this episode of Batman the Animated Series where they had Bane come to Gotham as a Latin American Drug Lord and he tries to take over the city and doesn’t really use his “drug venom” until much later in the episode. If they try to have Bane closer to the drug king/muscle maniac that he is supposed to be then The Dark Knight Rises will certainly be wonderful. I am just wondering whether or not they could match or even come close to the success of The Dark Knight? Since so many people saw The Dark Knight and universally loved it, would it be safe to say that no matter what happens, as long as they deliver a great Nolanesque story, that The Dark Knight Rises will be up to or even surpass the level of greatness that is The Dark Knight?
@SpiderTitan I think it’s safer to say that THE DARK KNIGHT will be the apex of the series.
@conor In terms of quality or success? Or both?
@Suicidalkangarooz Both. It will be extremely difficult to top THE DARK KNIGHT in any way.
I think bane is gonna be awsome, i always said they should use him but everyone said it wouldnt happen but now that it is, i cant wait!!!….i have never liked catwomen, i just cant stand her but what are you gonna do, you gotta take the good with the bad and I’m getting bane so its fair that all the catwomen fans out there get what they want too. i think it could pass the dark knight, we will just have to wait and see, at least for me it has always been about bane and joker, those two were the best in my mind. even if it doesnt top the dark knight I’m sure it will be great!!!
@conor I can’t think of movies where the third installement was a bigger critical and/or commercial success.
Is there precedent for this?
@jnewcomb toy story 3?
@thee third lord of the rings?
Batman Forever!!!
good piece. well done. i’m in.