Meet the ‘Dark Knight Rises’ villain: Bane
The third and final Christopher Nolan directed Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises,” will arrive in theaters later this summer and for some non-comic book fans, the villain is a complete stranger.
For some movie buffs, Bane may conjure up images of the horrible Joel Schumacher incarnation from “Batman and Robin,” which was essentially a mindless muscle-head under the control of Poison Ivy.
Bane is described by the costume designer as a “cross between a dictator and a revolutionary.” His first comic book appearance in 1993 was “Vengeance of Bane #1” revealed his origins and how the “Rises” villain came to be a nemesis for Batman.
There is perpetual civil war on the fictional island of Santa Prisca and Bane’s mother, a rebel insurgent, is taken prisoner while she’s heavy with child and incarcerated within the walls of hardcore prison. Upon the death of his mother, a young Bane must learn to survive the brutal prison with only his wit, his courage and his hunger to thrive for company.
Batman isn’t featured much, but the setup for Bane’s triumphant defeat of the Cape Crusader in Knightfall is detailed and realistic.
Later in 1993 was the event marking their epic battle which left Batman beaten and broken.
In Knightfall, Bane cleverly engineers a mass escape from Arkham, flooding the streets of Gotham with just about every psychopath in the rogues’ gallery, it’s of course up to Bats to put them all back where they belong.Batman fights constantly and tirelessly against the villains of Gotham; all the while Bane merely observes from a distance as the Dark Knight suffers from increasing physical and emotional burnout. Bane makes his move, defeats the Batman, breaking his back and leaves him paralyzed and humiliated.
In 1998, a new comic book miniseries titled “Bane of the Demon” ties Ra’s al Ghul to the killer. The villain from “Batman Begins” is said to return in “Rises” and Ra’s describes Bane perfectly in this series:
‘treacherous and vain; to whom loyalty means nothing’…. ‘being of pure self; entirely without morals or any virtue save sheer courage’
Bane’s appearances in the Batman titles gets strange at times (there’s a story where Bane may be related to Bruce Wayne), but the character proves to be a formidable adversary for Batman.
There was even an episode of “Batman: The Animated Series” where Bane appears primed to break Batman’s back, as seen in Knightfall, but there’s a last second twist.
“The Dark Knight Rises” opens on July 20th and fans will have high expectations following Heath Ledger’s amazing Joker performance. Tom Hardy will have a challenge in “Rises,” but there’s plenty of good comic book material to use to bring the “dictator and revolutionary” to the screen in the Batman finale.
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