The Dark Knight Rises get's a villain - Bane!
It might be over a year away, but we all know how much Christopher Nolan loves his viral marketing, and he’s recently release the first of, what I expect to be, many viral marketing campaigns Some of the more technically minded fans managed to figure out an audio file that appeared on the Dark Knight Rises website revealed a hashtag (#thefirerises) which when retweeted, led to the reveal of the image you see above. The Batman villain – Bane, played by the excellent Tom Hardy. Contrary to the awful mangled version of the character in Schumacher’s Batman & Robin that showed him as a mindless thug, Bane is a much more interesting villain than that movie gave him credit for.
For those that don’t know your Batman history, Bane was born in Peña Dura prison in the Caribbean Republic of Santa Prisca. He is highly intelligent, having spent his time reading everything he could get his hands on, and being taught by a range of people, from other hardened inmates, to a classical education from a Jesuit priest. Prison gym also helped him build his impressive hulking frame, and the tough prison system taught him how to fight… A mindless thug he most certainly is not…
Whilst at the prison, Bane is forced to test a new experimental drug called Venom, which at first nearly kills him, but he survives only to find the Venom massively increases his strength, so long as he is dosed regularly.
In Batman lore the thing Bane is most famous for is ‘breaking the Bat’. After escaping from Peña Dura, Bane blows the wall of Arkham Asylum allowing all it’s deranged ‘patients’ to escape. Bane uses this tactic to wear Batman down over the next 3 month as he tries to recapture Joker, Scarecrow, Two-Face and all the other inmates Bane let loose on Gotham. Having also worked out Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bane waits at Wayne Manor to confront an exhausted Batman, and in the ensuing fight breaks Batman’s back.
Another Batman villain?
Bane is a great choice for Nolan. He’s a major Batman enemy, but not too ‘out there’, and can be played with a similar level of realism as Scarecrow and Joker. It’ll be interesting to see how he handles the Venom side of the Bane’s character too.
What’s also intriguing about the image above is the white and red dots in the background… A hint at another villain maybe? The white dot looks suspiciously like an eye shape… Deadshot possibly? That could mean the Suicide Squad… What do you think? Any ideas, leave them in the comments!
The Dark Knight Rises is due in cinemas 20th July 2012, and I really really can’t wait!
