With "The Dark Knight Rises" coming to theaters next month, fans of Batman are looking forward to what the final installment has in store. Based on the released posters and the theatrical trailer, we can only expect big things... especially from Bane. So, who is Bane anyway? Let's go back to 1993.
Bane first appeared in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993), published by DC Comics. He was created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench and Graham Nolan and was originally intended as a "dark mirror" of the pulp hero Doc Savage. Bane was born and raised in a prison called, Peña Duro. He was meant to serve out the sentence of his father and grew up developing extraordinary skills within the prison walls. He commits his first murder at the age of eight, stabbing a criminal who wanted to use him in order to obtain information about the prison. Throughout his years in prison, Bane carries a teddy bear he calls Osito (which is Spanish for "little bear"), whom he considers to be his only friend. We later find out that he keeps a knife lodged inside the back of Osito.
Bane eventually establishes himself as "king" of Peña Duro prison and the prison's supervisors force him to become a test subject for a mysterious drug knows as Venom. Although it nearly kills him (like it has done other test subjects before him) its effects enhance his physical strength significantly. He also realizes that he must take it every 12 hours or he would suffer negative side-effects.
Years later, Bane escapes the prison and is determined to destroy Batman, whom he had heard tales of while serving his sentence. Not only that, but Bane is convinced that the demonic bat that haunted his dreams since childhood represents Batman himself.
Bane has been one of Batman's more powerful foes--physically and intellectually and is known as the only man to have "Broken the Bat." In Batman #497, "Knightfall" he breaks Batman's spinal cord, forcing Bruce Wayne to give up the Batman persona while he recovered.
Bane is very intelligent and even Ra's al Ghul said he "has a mind equal to the greatest he has known," in Bane of the Demon. His abilities include genius-level intellect like photographic memory, polymath and being polylingual. His venom usage allows his to possess superhuman strength, enhance his speed and reflexes, have superhuman endurance/durability and have superhuman healing.
In the 1997 film, "Batman & Robin" Bane was portrayed by Actor Robert Swenson. "The Dark Knight Rises" takes place eight years after the events of "The Dark Knight" and Tom Hardy will play Bane as the main antagonist in the film.
Bane is listed as #34 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.
"Little is known about Bane. He was born in prison and trained in the darkest forms of deception by the League of Shadows, but rumor has it he was cast out due to his extreme behavior. Bane is a ferocious hand-to-hand fighter who is willing to do anything in order to take down his opponents. Bane is in peak physical shape, but he must wear a breathing apparatus that feeds him with pain relieving gas due to an old injury. He's never been photographed without his mask and only a handful of people have seen his face. While his true motives remain a mystery, he appears to be building an army of followers in the dark tunnels underneath Gotham in order to create his own League of Shadows," wrote The Dark Knight Rises: The Secret Files Scrapbook.
There's no doubt that he is a complex character and we can only hope to learn more about him in the upcoming film, "The Dark Knight Rises."
The Dark Knight Rises will be in theaters on July 20, 2012.
Click here to check out some of the posters released for The Dark Knight Rises in my article.
To learn more about Catwoman, be sure to read: "The Woman behind the feline mask: Catwoman."
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