Christopher Nolan made arguably the best superhero movie trilogy with The Dark Knight series. The trilogy elevated the status of the genre and changed people’s perceptions of what the genre could do. People began to realize that these films can deliver entertaining escapism while also addressing real-life issues and human behavior.
With 2008’s The Dark Knight, Nolan had a tall order to live up to or exceed people’s expectations with what he delivered tremendously with the Joker. He surprisingly decided on Bane as the antagonist for the third film with Tom Hardy playing him. He had a reasonable approach to making such a bold decision at the time.
Christopher Nolan Had a Logical Reason for Choosing Tom Hardy as Bane
Christopher Nolan delivered arguably the most celebrated superhero film with The Dark Knight in 2008. Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker created a sensation and he even won a posthumous Oscar changing people’s perception of the genre. Nolan had a tall order to live up to with his next film in the trilogy.
Warner Bros wanted Riddler to be the third film’s villain and Leonardo DiCaprio to play the role. But Nolan wanted the antagonist to have a more physical presence. In an interview, he talked about the appeal of the character’s brain and brawn appeal and how Tom Hardy was perfect for the role. Nolan said, (via Gizmodo),
“Bane, to me, is something we haven’t dealt with in the films. We wanted to do something very different in this film. He’s a primarily physical villain, he’s a classic movie monster in a way — but with a terrific brain. I think he’s a fascinating character. I think people are going to get a kick out of what we’ve done with him.
And getting an actor like Tom to take it on, you know you’re going to get something very special. Tom is somebody who really knows how to put character into every gesture, every aspect of his physicality in the way that great actors can. He’s a very, very physical actor.”
Hardy proved to be a menacing villain as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises as he provided serious stakes for Batman while also having an understandable motive. His intimidating physical presence and his intellect were appealing to audiences and he almost achieved what he wanted in the film because of this quality.
Christopher Nolan Still Considers Tom Hardy’s Bane an Extraordinary Villain
Tom Hardy played Bane in Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight Rises. Hardy’s performance has generally become more divisive with time, with some fans criticizing his voice and some of his over-the-top moments. However, Nolan still loves what Hardy did with the role.
In an appearance on The Happy Sad Confused Podcast, he compared Hardy’s intensity to Marlon Brando and called it an extraordinary performance. He said,
“The voice, the relationship between just seeing the eyes and the brow. We had all these discussions about the mask and what it would reveal and what it wouldn’t reveal, and one of the things I remember him saying to me,
He sort of put his finger up to his temple and his eyebrow and said, ‘Can you give me this to play with? Let people see this’… Sure enough, you see there in the film, this kind of Brando-esque brow, expressing all kinds of just monstrous things. It’s really quite a performance.”
Nolan is still thriving as his latest release Oppenheimer has become one of the biggest successes of his career. The film is expected to be nominated for many awards for its actors and various filmmaking categories.
