BANE? Who the Hell is Bane?

With the pivotal casting rumours of Christopher Nolan’s final Batman instalment, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, being revealed with Anna Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane. But a question a lot of non and causal Batman fans might be quickly googling is; Who the Hell is Bane?

Bane surfaced in the comic book world in January 1993 issue Batman: Vengeance of Bane as a brainchild of Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench and Graham Nolan (no connection). Bane was born of the fictional island of Santa Prisca and grew up serving his revolutionary father’s prison sentence, at Pena Duro, after his escape. Bane developed extraordinary skills in the prison, expanding his mental and physical abilities with impressive results. Bane thrived in this hostile environment, killing his first person at the age of eight and ending up becoming the ‘king’ of Pena Duro prison.

Being the strongest, the men running the prison use Bane as a test subject for an experimental drug, Venom, which no one had previously survived from. At first the drug nearly kills him but Bane weathers the storm and finds his strength has been increased ten fold. The only downside is that the drug lasts 12 hours before the user needs another hit otherwise they will suffer a debilitating withdrawal.

Bane escapes the confines of Pena Duro prison with a posse of other inmates; Trogg, Zombie and Bird and dons a Lucha Libre mask. Aiming high Bane sets his sights on Batman with the idea that he will be seen as the Top Dog if he beats the Dark Knight. There are a number of other reasons that Bane focuses on the Bat including Bane believes that night terrors that he experienced as a child which featured a demonic bat is a symbol of fear for his which he wished to overcome by defeating the Caped Crusader.

At the time Batman was showing all the signs of a possible mental breakdown after a string of near failures and the death of his best bud, Superman. After bad run ins with various villains such as Black Mask, Bane hides in wait watching his prey and deciding on the best course of action which ends up being, blowing the walls of Arkham Asylum releasing all of Batman’s foes. This was the start of the story; Knightfall.

Batman hunts down and defeats each and every murderous villain that escaped and with each capture taking a terrible toll on the Bat. Finally, once all of the bad guys are caught, Bane appears, beating Batman, in the Bat Cave, within an inch of his life until eventually breaking his back, paralysising Batman from the waste down. Bane is taken down by a substitute Batman where he is cut off from his Venom supply which he had become very dependant on.

After Knightfall Bane has become a staple Batman villain and sometimes ally and is one of the only newer villains that has been able to keep up with the classic villains of Batman’s rouge gallery. He has appeared in a variety of film,TV and video games, listed at the bottom, and is one of the main characters of the Secret Six comic series.

Film

BATMAN & ROBIN (1997)

This film is terrible, I think everyone is in agreement and one of the biggest disservices that the film perpetratored was it’s use of Bane (Michael Reid MacKay). He was the super powered lackey of Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) with the real name of Antonio Diego, a serial killer that while in prison is tested on by Dr Jason Woodrue trying to make the Captain America-esque super soldier using Venom. Bane in this incarnation was not a criminal mastermind but one that seemed to have an orgasm when running through walls.

TV

The closest interpretation of the character has been in DC’s animated TV shows with;

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES – “Bane”

Bane is hired by Rupert Thorn to take out the Batman but he has other ideas including to overthrow Thorn and rule the Gotham underworld. Batman defeats him but nearly has his back broken in the process.

THE NEW BATMAN ADVENTURES – “Over the Edge”

Losing the wrestler look and donning a more BDSM style when Batgirl is killed and Batman’s identity is exposed Commissioner Gordon hunts down the Bat looking for revenage in his daughters death. Bane pops up and has a big fight with Batman but you find out that it is all a nightmare as Batman has been hit with Scarecrow’s fear gas.

SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES – “Knight Time”

Batman is gone and Gotham knows it. To stop the city burning Superman dresses up as his Super Friend, Batman to solve the mystery. Bane is a suspect and fights the faux-Bat and believes to have killed him during the fight but of course doesn’t as it’s Superman who then kick his arse.

BATMAN: MYSTERY OF THE BATWOMAN

One of the many spin off films from the DC animated universe, and the only bad one. Bane is just used as a mug for some nice fight scenes and adds really nothing to the film.

BATMAN BEYOND – “The Winning Edge”

A series that saw Bruce Wayne in his seventies and a much younger Batman in Terry McGuinness. Venom begins to flood the streets of future Gotham and the new Batman tracks down the originals of the drug to an elderly Bane, worn down by overuse of his strength giving drug.

THE BATMAN – “Traction” & “Brawn”

THE BATMAN is re-imagining of Batman with some of the animated talent behind the JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES. Bane in this version looks more like Clayface with his discoloured skin, huge size and now voiced by Hellboy himself, Ron Pearlman. Bane again does not show extraordinary mental prowess but his just a hired assassin being hired to take out the Batman.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD – “Menace of the Conqueror Caveman”

Another re-imagining of Batman now takes more of a Adam West approach to the character but is hilariously executed. The show’s format features a short intro with an adventure with Batman and another costumed hero which has nothing to do with the main story. Batman and Wildcat face off in a short battle with Bane before he is despatched.

YOUNG JUSTICE – “Drop Zone”

This is the most recent (last Saturday) cartoon with Bane, which sees all of the DC sidekicks, Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian, Kid Flash and Aqualad take on Kobra and blow up Bane’s Venom factory.

We don’t know how Bane is going to be in DARK KNIGHT RISES, but we can bet that it isn’t going to be anything like BATMAN & ROBIN. Hardy is an inspired choice, he has the size which we’ve seen in BRONSON, and he has ability to portray intense and intelligent characters but will there be a Lucha Libre mask? Will he be from Central America? Will he break the back of the Batman? Who knows is anybodies guest right now but when they start filming I’m sure the details will become clear.

Here are all the main story arcs or series that should be available in TPB (Trade Paper Back) if you would all like to swat up on the main man Bane here are a few ideas;

Batman: Knightfall Part 1 – Breaking the Bat
Batman: Knightquest
Batman: Bane of the Demon
Vengeance of Bane 2: The Redemption
Veritas Liberat
Infinite Crisis
One Year Later
Secret Six