Christopher Nolan tweaks a supervillain origin story
Warner Bros. Pictures
In the comics, Bane wears the mask to give himself regular injections of a toxin known as Venom, which lends him incredible power but can also debilitate him if it’s not taken in a timely manner. He also spent his youth in a prison, which is where he first donned the mask. But Nolan’s film differs from the comics in one important way. “Bane is someone ravaged by pain from a trauma suffered long ago,” the director said according to Batman News. “And the mask dispenses a type of anesthetic that keeps his pain just below the threshold so he can function.”
Costume designer Lindy Hemming went into further detail, explaining that the pipes in his mask “go back along his jawline and feed into the thing at the back where there are two canisters,” which are presumably filled with the substance, keeping the agony at bay. What’s ironic is that CIA agent Bill Wilson (Aidan Gillen) makes that very assumption when he asks Bane if taking off the mask will kill him and the latter replies it would be “extremely painful.” The reason Bane’s mask dispenses an anesthetic instead of Venom is revealed by Miranda Tate, a.k.a. Talia Al-Ghul (Marion Cotillard), at the end of the film. Upon helping her escape the prison after her mother’s death, Bane is brutally beaten by the prisoners and attempts to heal him lead to the development of chronic pain. In a lot of ways, Nolan’s version of the character better emphasizes the inherent tragedy at the center of his story than previous ones. And he does so while also grounding the character in a far more realistic manner that’s no less menacing than the source material has always been.
How getting rid of Venom was an improvement on the character
Warner Bros. Pictures
Nolan’s backstory for Bane is actually just as unfortunate as the one in the comics, especially since the Venom experiment that gave him his power is conducted against his will. As a result of that cruelty and the years of having to survive in a prison as a child, it’s no surprise that he turns into a supervillain. But perhaps what makes Bane’s path in “The Dark Knight Rises” slightly more unfortunate is the goodwill it’s inspired by, which is in sharp contrast to the horrific acts of violence he executes throughout the film.
As reported by Batman News, Hardy doesn’t mince words when calling his character “brutal” and a “wrecking ball.” Whoever he was before he met Talia is a mystery, but for a split second in his past, he was just a man choosing to protect a child at the expense of his own life. But Venom was always just a symbol of both Bane’s pain and his reliance on it to keep himself from ever being that helpless again. In “The Dark Knight Rises,” his fanatical devotion to Talia is what pushes him to keep taking the anesthetic and keep committing atrocities. Bane accomplishes his feats via his exceptional will and grandiose vision — not some drug — which is just as frightening and dangerous as superhuman strength.
Bane’s Mask In The Dark Knight Rises Hints At An Unseen Part Of The Character’s Past
Warner Bros. Pictures
By Steven Ward/Sept. 30, 2022 11:34 am EST
Christopher Nolan tweaks a supervillain origin story
In the comics, Bane wears the mask to give himself regular injections of a toxin known as Venom, which lends him incredible power but can also debilitate him if it’s not taken in a timely manner. He also spent his youth in a prison, which is where he first donned the mask. But Nolan’s film differs from the comics in one important way. “Bane is someone ravaged by pain from a trauma suffered long ago,” the director said according to Batman News. “And the mask dispenses a type of anesthetic that keeps his pain just below the threshold so he can function.”
Costume designer Lindy Hemming went into further detail, explaining that the pipes in his mask “go back along his jawline and feed into the thing at the back where there are two canisters,” which are presumably filled with the substance, keeping the agony at bay. What’s ironic is that CIA agent Bill Wilson (Aidan Gillen) makes that very assumption when he asks Bane if taking off the mask will kill him and the latter replies it would be “extremely painful.” The reason Bane’s mask dispenses an anesthetic instead of Venom is revealed by Miranda Tate, a.k.a. Talia Al-Ghul (Marion Cotillard), at the end of the film. Upon helping her escape the prison after her mother’s death, Bane is brutally beaten by the prisoners and attempts to heal him lead to the development of chronic pain. In a lot of ways, Nolan’s version of the character better emphasizes the inherent tragedy at the center of his story than previous ones. And he does so while also grounding the character in a far more realistic manner that’s no less menacing than the source material has always been.
Costume designer Lindy Hemming went into further detail, explaining that the pipes in his mask “go back along his jawline and feed into the thing at the back where there are two canisters,” which are presumably filled with the substance, keeping the agony at bay. What’s ironic is that CIA agent Bill Wilson (Aidan Gillen) makes that very assumption when he asks Bane if taking off the mask will kill him and the latter replies it would be “extremely painful.”
The reason Bane’s mask dispenses an anesthetic instead of Venom is revealed by Miranda Tate, a.k.a. Talia Al-Ghul (Marion Cotillard), at the end of the film. Upon helping her escape the prison after her mother’s death, Bane is brutally beaten by the prisoners and attempts to heal him lead to the development of chronic pain. In a lot of ways, Nolan’s version of the character better emphasizes the inherent tragedy at the center of his story than previous ones. And he does so while also grounding the character in a far more realistic manner that’s no less menacing than the source material has always been.
How getting rid of Venom was an improvement on the character
Nolan’s backstory for Bane is actually just as unfortunate as the one in the comics, especially since the Venom experiment that gave him his power is conducted against his will. As a result of that cruelty and the years of having to survive in a prison as a child, it’s no surprise that he turns into a supervillain. But perhaps what makes Bane’s path in “The Dark Knight Rises” slightly more unfortunate is the goodwill it’s inspired by, which is in sharp contrast to the horrific acts of violence he executes throughout the film.
As reported by Batman News, Hardy doesn’t mince words when calling his character “brutal” and a “wrecking ball.” Whoever he was before he met Talia is a mystery, but for a split second in his past, he was just a man choosing to protect a child at the expense of his own life. But Venom was always just a symbol of both Bane’s pain and his reliance on it to keep himself from ever being that helpless again. In “The Dark Knight Rises,” his fanatical devotion to Talia is what pushes him to keep taking the anesthetic and keep committing atrocities. Bane accomplishes his feats via his exceptional will and grandiose vision — not some drug — which is just as frightening and dangerous as superhuman strength.
As reported by Batman News, Hardy doesn’t mince words when calling his character “brutal” and a “wrecking ball.” Whoever he was before he met Talia is a mystery, but for a split second in his past, he was just a man choosing to protect a child at the expense of his own life. But Venom was always just a symbol of both Bane’s pain and his reliance on it to keep himself from ever being that helpless again. In “The Dark Knight Rises,” his fanatical devotion to Talia is what pushes him to keep taking the anesthetic and keep committing atrocities. Bane accomplishes his feats via his exceptional will and grandiose vision — not some drug — which is just as frightening and dangerous as superhuman strength.
