Bane
Bane’s most famous appearance to date is Tom Hardy’s version of the character from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. But besides being known as one of the first “Tom Hardy Covers His Face” roles, is Bane that memorable of a villain? Sure, he beats Batman to a pulp and talks in an almost indistinguishable garble, but his backstory is barely touched upon. And anyone who knows anything about Bane know there’s so much more to his story that deserves to be told.
Although he looks like he eats rusty nails as snacks, comic book readers know he’s more than just a strong brute. He’s actually a brilliant strategist when it comes to analyzing and ‘breaking’ his enemies. Not only that, but his backstory is the type of dark, gritty, contained tale that would make a great prequel film.
Bane entered the world already at a huge disadvantage. His father was revolutionary who escaped prison on the island of Santa Prisca. The government cruelly decided that the man’s son should serve the sentence instead, thus forcing a very young Bane to grow up in one of the harshest prisons in the world. He was a boy among vicious criminals and had to adapt in order to survive. He murdered his first man when he was eight years old and only got more brutal as time went on.
A supervillain origin story set in prison? If Warner Bros. really wants to get dark with their origin stories and push an R-rated film, Bane would be the perfect villain to explore.