In Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, Tom Hardy turned the character of Bane, who could’ve easily been a forgettable follow-up to the previous movie’s Joker, into one of the most memorable on-screen Batman villains to date. This was no small feat: the hulking monster-man was last seen on film in 1997's Batman & Robin where he was little more than a mindless, varicose vein-covered luchador superfan. Nolan and Hardy, however, imbued the character with a real sense of deranged intelligence that made his unpredictable plans as frightening as his physical prowess.
Well, Batman TV show Gotham is ready to try its hand at following up on this accomplishment, creating a new take on Bane capable of matching Hardy’s turn. Here, for your consideration, is a picture of him.
There’s no shortage of contenders for the title of worst live-action superhero costume, but Gotham’s Bane makes a strong showing right off the bat. His suit jacket’s padded shoulders and the gobs of plastic melted down his front make this version of the character look more like a messy, Lego-eating CEO than a serious threat to his city. The exaggeratedly red-rimmed eyes and fighter plane gas mask give the impression, too, that this Bane is more into rigging up super elaborate, hands-free bong mods than pursuing evil. He, to put it simply, just sort of sucks.
Twitter, as you would expect, has thoughts in this vein, too.
The most apt comparison, though, is the following. Once it’s been pointed out, it’s hard not to see this version of Bane as the doughy, egg-headed look at Vader we get at the end of Return Of The Jedi.
Despite all of this, there’s still hope that these still images of Bane will translate better to the screen when performed by a moving, talking actor. After all, a photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his exceptionally goofy-looking Mr. Freeze costume hardly does justice to the incredible performance he gave while wearing it.
Send Great Job, Internet tips to [email protected]