Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy presented the Batman lore in a grounded and exciting fashion with Christian Bale playing the titular role. The trilogy also presented a rich array of supervillains paired against Batman with Heath Ledger’s Joker and Tom Hardy’s Bane being a talking point for fans.
Each actor brought so much complexity to their roles and while both are drastically different characters, fans often compare them and decide who was more compelling. However, Nolan believes that the two characters do not exist in the same periphery and are not suited for a justified comparison.
Christopher Nolan Does Not Approve of Fans Comparing The Joker and Bane in His Trilogy
Christopher Nolan followed up his incredible origin film for Batman in 2005’s Batman Begins with The Dark Knight, a sequel which surprisingly went leaps and bounds ahead of the first film. The major factor for that was Heath Ledger‘s incomparable performance as the Joker in the film. The actor went on to win an Oscar for the role.
With all that incredible pressure to deliver with the third film, Nolan followed by casting Tom Hardy as Bane. Unlike Joker’s psychological tricks, Bane was a more physically imposing villain, and Hardy’s unique voice added to the intimidating factor of the role. While fans consider Joker to be a more compelling villain than Bane, Nolan believes it is unfair to compare the two.
Nolan compared Joker to a serial killer and Bane to a monstrous Darth Vader. The director got intimidated when he heard Hardy’s voice for the role. He went on to claim that both performances are great in their own ways and are it will be an ‘apples and oranges’ comparison if one tries to put them both in one place. Nolan said (via Christopher Nolan Art and Updates on X),
“The Joker is mad. He’s a serial killer. Bane needed to be the monster. It’s Jack Palance in Shane, it’s Darth Vader, it’s Kurtz. He’s a soldier. The first time Tom did the voice for us, it was scary. It gets into your head. […] It’s hard to compete with what Heath Ledger did, they’re apples and oranges, but it’s a pretty amazing character. It really is an incredible performance.”
Nolan has given a lot of credit to Hardy for his lively performance as Bane. While Ledger’s performance has been inversely loved, Hardy’s performance did receive some criticism for its supposed over-the-top nature of the role. However, Nolan loves both roles, and comparing them would be undoing the hard work that the actors put in for their roles.
Christopher Nolan Believes Audiences Have Yet to Fully Appreciate Tom Hardy’s Bane
Tom Hardy’s performance as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises was met with mixed reactions from fans. While some enjoyed Hardy’s imposing and intimidating portrayal of the character, many were critical of his voice and some over-the-top moments.
However, Nolan believes Hardy’s performance in the film is extraordinary and not many people have realized the brilliance of his performance. He told Josh Horowitz on The Happy Sad Confused Podcast that Hardy’s performance reminded him of Marlon Brando, as he improvised certain monstrous acts that the character does in the film. Nolan said,
“There’s no safety net for any of these guys and Tom, I mean… what he did with that character has yet to be fully appreciated. It’s an extraordinary performance, and truly amazing,” Nolan said. “The voice, the relationship between just seeing the eyes and the brow…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.”
In addition to The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy also starred in two other Nolan films Inception and Dunkirk. As of 2024, he is set to return as Eddie Brock/ Venom in Venom: The Last Dance, which will hit theatres on October 25, 2024. He is also set to star in the upcoming action thriller Havoc directed by Gareth Edwards.
Fans can watch Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy on Max.
