New Batman Villains: Catwoman & Bane

[Havok]

I have read all the comics, and it's interesting and I don't see it either. But like I said... Ledger? C'mon, no one saw that but Nolan. I have faith in the guy.

[Gandalf]

Hathaway huh? A fucking doll to be sure, but Selina Kyle? Man, I hope Nolan goes fucking nuts with her and makes her evil and vindictive and crazy as fuck. I don't know if I could buy her any other way..

There's so many ways to write the character that it's pretty easy to slip her into almost any plot. A mildly villainous love interest for Batman is really all that's at the core of the character. That said, I hope she's a supporting character.

I want a giant fucking Penny Nolan!

I just read that comic a few months ago. Therefore these are exactly my sentimonies. Also a robotic dinosaur.

[avatarxprime]

Bane huh? That's really surprising but hopefully Nolan really takes the "he's a genius and master strategist" and runs with it. Venom should be easy enough to handle with it being some kind of super steroid (possibly Wayne biomedical tech?) that he gets his hands on. Actually, if they take a page out the the Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Venom arc where Bruce starts popping pills of the stuff as the work of becoming Batman starts getting to him and he feels the need to get some kind of edge, and then it "creating" Bane would actually be an interesting bit.

[xerex]

hmm I know nothing about Bane aside from Wiki.

that said these plot lines jumped out at me.

His ambition turns to destroying Batman, whom he had heard tales of while serving his sentence. He is fascinated with Gotham City because, like the prison, it is a place where fear rules: in this case, fear of Batman. Bane is convinced that the demonic bat that haunted his dreams since childhood is a representation of the Batman

Bane encounters the League of Assassins and eventually Bane impresses Ra's al Ghul so much that he chooses Bane as his heir (an "honor" he had previously imparted on Batman).Ra's al Ghul and Bane then launch a plague attack on Gotham in the "Legacy" storyline.

Bane comes to the conclusion that he and Batman share Dr. Thomas Wayne as their biological father, with Dr. Wayne having apparently become close to Bane's mother during his time in Santa Prisca. Bane alerts Batman to this possibility and during the time that the DNA tests are being performed, stays at Wayne Manor and fights alongside Batman on the streets of Gotham in the "Tabula Rasa" storyline. Ultimately, it is revealed that Dr. Wayne is not Bane's father, and Bane leaves Gotham peacefully (and with Batman's blessing and financial backing

[Setzer]

Hathaway huh? A fucking doll to be sure, but Selina Kyle? Man, I hope Nolan goes fucking nuts with her and makes her evil and vindictive and crazy as fuck. I don't know if I could buy her any other way..

There's so many ways to write the character that it's pretty easy to slip her into almost any plot. A mildly villainous love interest for Batman is really all that's at the core of the character. That said, I hope she's a supporting character.

I want a giant fucking Penny Nolan!

I just read that comic a few months ago. Therefore these are exactly my sentimonies. Also a robotic dinosaur.

Yeah, and the Bat Credit card. Can't forget that. Seriously, Nolan is playing the setting as realistically as he can. Why mess with that?

[FSTargetDrone]

Yeah, and the Bat Credit card. Can't forget that. Seriously, Nolan is playing the setting as realistically as he can. Why mess with that?

Heck, even Tim Burton said in the commentary to either Batman or Batman Returns that he thought the giant penny and dinosaur wouldn't make sense and that audience might be distracted, wondering how Wayne got those things in the cave.

[Skylon]

Yeah, and the Bat Credit card. Can't forget that. Seriously, Nolan is playing the setting as realistically as he can. Why mess with that?

Heck, even Tim Burton said in the commentary to either Batman or Batman Returns that he thought the giant penny and dinosaur wouldn't make sense and that audience might be distracted, wondering how Wayne got those things in the cave.

My favorite explanation for the giant penny is from Batman: TAS, which made it part of a maniacal death trap by Two-Face.

Poison Ivy: "So Harvey, what became of the giant penny?"
Two-Face: "They actually let him keep it!"

As for the dinosaur...isn't that some nod to a really old issue of "Detective Comics" where Batman fought robot dinosaurs (and the cover misspelled the term as "dinasaurs")?

[Solauren]

Well whom would you cast? The only people I can think of who even begin to approach his muscle tone are professional wrestlers, and the only one who roughly matches the size and doesn't look fat is the Great Kali (and even that guy doesn't meet Bane's musculature-wise).

Actually, I can think of several professional wrestlers that could pull off a reasonable hulk and built up Bane

Let's see
Most MMA Fighters, i.e: Brock Lesnar
Triple H, John Cena, David Otunga, and Shemus could do it. Shemus probably wouldn't work due to his ethnic background (Irish, and ginger to boot. And I mean ghost-white).

[Gandalf]

As for the dinosaur...isn't that some nod to a really old issue of "Detective Comics" where Batman fought robot dinosaurs (and the cover misspelled the term as "dinasaurs")?

Yeah. A wealthy guy creates an island of robotic dinosaurs. He then bets Batman and Robin that they couldn't survive a weekend there.

Hilarity ensues.

[JME2]

As for the dinosaur...isn't that some nod to a really old issue of "Detective Comics" where Batman fought robot dinosaurs (and the cover misspelled the term as "dinasaurs")?

Yeah. A wealthy guy creates an island of robotic dinosaurs. He then bets Batman and Robin that they couldn't survive a weekend there.

Hilarity ensues.

In BTAS, I believe it's origin is as a relic from the Calendar Girl Case ("Mean Seasons").

[Tanasinn]

Really could do without Catwoman, particularly if they go with the usual "she's a cat burglar...that dresses like a cat LOLLOLOLOLLOLOLOL." To say nothing of the romance angle, which has always been weird and could be potentially winceworthy after the second film.

Then again, Nolan surprised most viewers, I think, with Ledger-Joker.

[Aura]

Well whom would you cast? The only people I can think of who even begin to approach his muscle tone are professional wrestlers, and the only one who roughly matches the size and doesn't look fat is the Great Kali (and even that guy doesn't meet Bane's musculature-wise).

Actually, I can think of several professional wrestlers that could pull off a reasonable hulk and built up Bane

Let's see
Most MMA Fighters, i.e: Brock Lesnar
Triple H, John Cena, David Otunga, and Shemus could do it. Shemus probably wouldn't work due to his ethnic background (Irish, and ginger to boot. And I mean ghost-white).

Yeah ... Nolan would totally cast them.

[General Zod]

Well whom would you cast? The only people I can think of who even begin to approach his muscle tone are professional wrestlers, and the only one who roughly matches the size and doesn't look fat is the Great Kali (and even that guy doesn't meet Bane's musculature-wise).

Actually, I can think of several professional wrestlers that could pull off a reasonable hulk and built up Bane

Let's see
Most MMA Fighters, i.e: Brock Lesnar
Triple H, John Cena, David Otunga, and Shemus could do it. Shemus probably wouldn't work due to his ethnic background (Irish, and ginger to boot. And I mean ghost-white).

If you want him doing nothing but grunting and flexing his muscles, then sure, cast a pro-Wrestler. Or you could get someone who can act.

[JME2]

Well whom would you cast? The only people I can think of who even begin to approach his muscle tone are professional wrestlers, and the only one who roughly matches the size and doesn't look fat is the Great Kali (and even that guy doesn't meet Bane's musculature-wise).

Actually, I can think of several professional wrestlers that could pull off a reasonable hulk and built up Bane

Let's see
Most MMA Fighters, i.e: Brock Lesnar
Triple H, John Cena, David Otunga, and Shemus could do it. Shemus probably wouldn't work due to his ethnic background (Irish, and ginger to boot. And I mean ghost-white).

Or you could get someone who can act.

Again, the specter of Shinzon hangs over Hardy, but we'll see what the Nolan brothers can do with their script and direction.

[General Zod]

Again, the specter of Shinzon hangs over Hardy, but we'll see what the Nolan brothers can do with their script and direction.

Not that I'm saying Hardy's a better choice per se. I don't really know what he's done and I never watched Insurrection.

[JME2]

Again, the specter of Shinzon hangs over Hardy, but we'll see what the Nolan brothers can do with their script and direction.

Not that I'm saying Hardy's a better choice per se. I don't really know what he's done and I never watched Insurrection.

Nemesis and you're one of the lucky ones.

[Stofsk]

I think this 'spectre of shinzon' shit is overstated. I sat down and watched Inception and was impressed by Hardy's performance. I had no idea who he was and thought he was a newcomer or something.

Turns out he's Shinzon and you know what, he's come a long way from that - so far I didn't even spot it. The guy's got chops, give him credit.

[General Zod]

Again, the specter of Shinzon hangs over Hardy, but we'll see what the Nolan brothers can do with their script and direction.

Not that I'm saying Hardy's a better choice per se. I don't really know what he's done and I never watched Insurrection.

Nemesis and you're one of the lucky ones.

Eh, whichever one Shinzon was in.

[Shroom Man 777]

Nobody gives a fuck about some lame Star Trek movie, besides Tom Hardy was pretty bad ass in Inception. Have you ever seen that movie, JME2?

It's also another Nolan work,so we can see how well the actor and the director work together.

[Stravo]

The more I think about the Bane choice the more it makes sense to me if it is portrayed in the right way. Unfortunately the Bane many movie goers are familiar with was in the abomination Batman and Robin but in the comics he is cold and calculating and driven.

So if we follow the themes that Nolan laid out in the previous movies and we believe that this will be the last movie - I think Nolan has stated several times that he always envisioned his Batman movies as a trilogy - this could be a closed circle of antagnonists.

In the first film Batman had to kill his father in order to grow into his own - Ras Al Ghul playing the role of the father.

In the second film Batman must face his exact opposite and consequence of his rising to power - Joker being his opposite number and the promise of costumed villains to come. The Joker is also a key in Bruce's development as the Batman because he cements for Bruce his major moral foundations, there are certain rules he will not break so by testing Bruce the Joker makes him truly incorruptible. Something the guardian of Gotham must be.

In this final film Batman faces himself. Bane is a cold, calculating, physical equal to Bruce. He is the dark reflection of what Batman could become. If Bruce were a villain Bane is what he would be and so they must face each other and when Bruce vanquishes himself or his dark side if you will he is now fully the iconic Batman and this is no longer the story of his rise.

It's growing on me and after seeing Inception recently I have to say I am incredibly impressed with Nolan as a story teller so I have a lot of faith in him.

[Gil Hamilton]

I agree with Master Shroom; there exist like five people who care about Nemesis and that Tom Hardy was in it. He's done alot since.

I had a discussion with a friend about this. She doesn't like Bane for this one, so I posed the question... well, who would you pick? I mean, Catwoman almost inherently can't carry a movie. She's dangerous to people's valuables and occasionally gives Batman blue balls, which isn't exactly a big threat. R'as al Ghul is dead, Two-Face is dead, they aren't going to bring the Scarecrow back a third time, and the Joker is off the table. Aside from maybe the Riddler and Bane, Batman's rogues gallery is the usual dross of DC gimmick villains that are too fundamentally silly to carry a Nolanverse movie. I speculate that they didn't do the Riddler because he might seem too much like the Joker when translated to a more "serious" setting.

So, Bane? Yeah, he could work. You never got the impression that any of Batman's previous adversaries were a personal threat to him. I mean, R'as al Ghul wanted to recruit him, not kill him. The Joker survived as long as he did because he understood the Bat and contrived situations where Batman couldn't stomp him without killing him. If they do Bane the Revolutionary, it has the potential to change that equation and step it up a notch. Now you've got a guy that Batman has a good chance of losing in a physical contest to, even if Batman manages to get him to that point.

As for Catwoman, I like how she could fit into the Batman universe. Remember all those guys in The Dark Knight who were dressing up as Batman because he showed them that they didn't have to be afraid anymore? Well, what if Catwoman was set up so she demonstrated the opposite lesson? What if she took the Batman as proof that society doesn't have any power over the sufficiently resourceful and turns that to crime? That could be interesting.

[Jim Raynor]

I'm actually really excited about this news. While I'm usually a "traditionalist" who wants to see older, more established characters used in movies, the potential for Bane in Nolan's hands is just great. As others have said, he's not just a muscleman, but has a calculating mind as well. I'm sure Nolan will use that aspect of his character. It's also great to finally have a villain who can take Batman in a straight fight.

How do you guys think they'll portray his Venom usage? The concept of Venom as a super steroid is something that I'm fine with. After all, the "realism" of this movie series has often been overstated. We've already gotten a microwave superweapon and city-wide cell phone sonar vision. However, I doubt they'd show Bane hulking up onscreen. It's the "appearance" of realism that Nolan's series really goes for. I think Tom Hardy's going to bulk up the way Chris Evans did for Captain America, and they'll just use his performance in the fight scenes to show his superhuman strength.

As for Catwoman, I knew that it would come down to her, Penguin, the Riddler, or one of the other well-known villains for marketing purposes alone. Catwoman was one of my favorite picks, because the romantic angle and her gray morality provide a chance for Batman to redeem someone and show that he's making a positive difference. That's something that needs to happen after all the tragedy in TDK, and is apparently the direction that Nolan wants to go in as well as hinted by the title of the third movie. Hathaway's an excellent choice.

[Gil Hamilton]

Chuck once pointed out in one of his Voyager reviews that people will readily overlook the really fantastic as long as everything else remains grounded. I think that's true for Nolan's Batman movies. We accept the crazier tech stuff in the Batman movies because everything else is so expertly crafted that it all rings true. I mean, the microwave gun, or the fear gas, or Batman's city wide cell phone radar isn't even the end of it. Plotwise, how DID the Joker plant that much exposives in that hospital while it was in operation with no one noticing or get access to those boats such that he could plant all those drums of flammable material? The audience accepts that the Joker can set up elaborate whacked out things because everything else works so questions about the feasibility of things don't register on people's radar. Nolan's Batman movies feel real enough that people will overlook the ninjas. This is particularly true since the last Batman franchise in living memory for most fans is the Tim Burton one, which was absolutely surreal in execution and didn't bother with silly things like making sense.

[JME2]

The more I think about the Bane choice the more it makes sense to me if it is portrayed in the right way. Unfortunately the Bane many movie goers are familiar with was in the abomination Batman and Robin but in the comics he is cold and calculating and driven.

So if we follow the themes that Nolan laid out in the previous movies and we believe that this will be the last movie - I think Nolan has stated several times that he always envisioned his Batman movies as a trilogy - this could be a closed circle of antagnonists.

In the first film Batman had to kill his father in order to grow into his own - Ras Al Ghul playing the role of the father.

In the second film Batman must face his exact opposite and consequence of his rising to power - Joker being his opposite number and the promise of costumed villains to come. The Joker is also a key in Bruce's development as the Batman because he cements for Bruce his major moral foundations, there are certain rules he will not break so by testing Bruce the Joker makes him truly incorruptible. Something the guardian of Gotham must be.

In this final film Batman faces himself. Bane is a cold, calculating, physical equal to Bruce. He is the dark reflection of what Batman could become. If Bruce were a villain Bane is what he would be and so they must face each other and when Bruce vanquishes himself or his dark side if you will he is now fully the iconic Batman and this is no longer the story of his rise.

Great thoughts, Stravo.

Newsarama has offered some additional thoughts that could tie into that duality.

Batman Begins dealt with terrorism, zealotry and fear as weapons for shaping the world. The Dark Knight took this to a more metaphorical level, asking viewers to examine their capacity for good and evil when faced with moral choices in the face of extreme terrorism.

They argue further that in keeping with those realistic aspects, focus on class conflict and economic turmoil.

Remember Bruce is a self-made man, but from the upper tiers of society. He trained and acquired the tools, but he had the means to do so.

Selina and Bane are both self-made individuals, but from the lower classes and the Third World respectively. They fought tooth and nail to get what they wanted. They are both opposites to Bruce. Selina however could be the middle ground, the bridge between him and Bane.

The idea of class warfare would also come full circle with the events of the first film, with the economic depression that the League of Shadows unleashed on Gotham.

Also, I'm sorry about harping on Hardy and Shinzon; 10 years later and I still hate that film and the era of the franchise it represents.

[Rye]

Again, the specter of Shinzon hangs over Hardy, but we'll see what the Nolan brothers can do with their script and direction.

So you watch this and think "SHINZON GHOST"?