A New Animated Batman Movie Has A Better Bane Than Tom Hardy

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This article contains spoilers for "Batman: Knightfall – Part 1."

Bane is such a fixture of "Batman" media that most people forget he only debuted in the 1990s. In Bane's debut arc, "Knightfall," he discovered Batman's secret identity, wore Batman down by staging a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum, and then famously shattered Batman's spine over his knee. 

"Knightfall" was a year-long crossover event that pulled all the "Batman" titles together. That's common in superhero comics now, but in the 1990s, it felt new. Batman media was swift to include Bane, cementing his place in the rogues' gallery for Bat-fans everywhere. But do any of those adaptations live up to "Knightfall"? 

The creators of "Batman: The Animated Series" weren't impressed with Bane and only featured him under "duress." The 2004 cartoon "The Batman" likewise made Bane (Joaquim de Almeida) into only a stronger-than-average villain of the week. "Batman & Robin" stripped Bane (Robert Swenson) of his cunning, reducing him to only a thug.

The most famous Bane is the one in Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight Rises," played by Tom Hardy. But let's be real; While Hardy's Bane is a fearsome villain who indeed breaks Batman (Christian Bale) and Gotham City itself, he's remembered mostly for his goofy, high-pitched bellow of a voice. He's also undercut by a twist revealing him as a servant of Talia al Ghul (Marion Cotillard), and disposed of as an afterthought. Hardy's Bane is a respectable adaptation, but not a definitive one.

That definitive adaptation has now arrived in an animated film (the first of a trilogy) based on "Knightfall." Directed by Jeff Wamester, "Batman: Knightfall" is a strong return to form for DC Animation. With an R-rating, it's also got the most brutal, terrifying adaptation of Bane (voiced by Michael Mando) yet.

A key chapter of "Knightfall" is the origin-story one-shot "Vengeance of Bane" (by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan). The animated "Knightfall," after a cold open in which Batman (Anson Mount) meets the ailing vigilante Azrael (Pablo Schreiber), transitions into an extended sequence that adapts "Vengeance of Bane."

Bane comes from the Latin American country Santa Prisca. Born and raised in Peña Duro prison to pay for his absent father's crimes, Bane has never known any other name. Spurred on by his mother to survive, Bane had to sharpen his mind and body into peak shape. He is eventually chosen as a test subject for a super steroid, Venom, that multiplies his strength tenfold past human levels.

The movie admittedly has to jump through Bane's childhood with some time lapses, but it makes the most of that compression. We're invited to sympathize with Bane's child self, especially since the monster he'll grow into still looks noble compared to the cruel Peña Duro staff. But Bane himself would surely reject any notion that he's a product of his environment; he mastered Peña Duro, not the other way around, and he intends to make Gotham City into his kingdom next.

Rather than Tom Hardy's almost affable Bane, Michael Mando voices Bando with a chilled fury, echoing every ounce of Bane's grit, intelligence, and patience. When Bane has beaten Batman to a pulp, he declares: 

"I am Bane! I could kill you, but death would only end your agony and silence your shame. Instead, I will simply ... break you."

This is near verbatim from "Batman" #497, but while the comic's lettering suggests Bane is shouting, Mando reads the line with a quieter growl, like the broken Batman is beneath contempt.

Christopher Nolan famously downplayed the fantastical in his "Dark Knight" movies. Tom Hardy's Bane wore a stylized gas mask that kept his eyes visible and relied on painkillers instead of Venom. "Batman: Knightfall" goes for maximalism instead, echoing "Knightfall" cover artist Kelley Jones' Bane: A top-heavy mountain of muscle upon muscle with hands the size of Batman's chest.

When Bane follows a staggering Batman into the Batcave, he's literally too huge to fit through, and so crashes through the door. His luchador-esque mask also completely conceals his face and gives him glaring red eyes, complementing Michael Mando's sinister voice and combining to create a truly scary villain.

"Vengeance of Bane" made Bane's vendetta against Batman rather abstract: he sees a terrifying bat in his dreams and believes that defeating Batman will silence it. In the animated "Knightfall," one of the books Bane read was a magazine article about Thomas Wayne and his revitalization of Gotham. Bane grew up seeing Thomas Wayne as a strong man and thinks Bruce is too weak to bear his father's crown.

The movie also adds new dialogue to Bane's fight with Batman, in which he taunts Bruce for letting his parents die and tells him they would feel only shame at how Gotham City has sunk further into darkness under Batman's watch. This connection underscores how the characters serve as foils: both Batman and Bane are übermenschen, but Bruce was raised in luxury. He didn't have to train himself the way that Bane had to if he was to survive hell on earth. No wonder Bane sees himself as a superior heir to Thomas Wayne.

"Batman: Knightfall – Part 1" is available for purchase; a second and third movie are in development.