Harley Quinn and Deadshot in Suicide Squad #7 courtesy DC Comics
Rumors have been flying like bullets but Warner Brothers makes it official.
Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie and Tom Hardy will star in Suicide Squad for director David Ayer according to The Hollywood Report Heat Vision.
Three big stars playing Batman villains while the actor who played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises will portray an old school DC Comics icon.
Leto will play the Joker, Robbie is Harley Quinn and Smith is Deadshot. Hardy will play team leader Rick Flag – a founding member of the unit in the comics.
Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, courtesy Warner Brothers
Director Christopher Nolan updated Bane for the big screen but cut a sequence explaining his back story according to a story in Vulture. The Dark Knight Rises offers glimpses of why the villain dresses and acts the way he does but there’s no explicit origin sequence.
Costume designer Lindy Hemming was discussing other costumes for the final Batman film when she started revealing the flashback sequence to GQ.
“The thing that you should have seen during that sequence is [Bane] being injured in his youth. So one of the fundamental things about his costume is that he has this scar from the back injury. Even if he hasn’t got the bulletproof vest on, he still has to wear the waist belt and the braces. In that scene in the prison, where he’s learning to fight the same way Batman learned to fight, he’s wearing an early version of his waist belt. It’s showing support, but it’s not the finished one he eventually wears. He’s also wearing an early version of his gas mask, all glued together … If you look at the film, unless they’ve cut it—and I’m sure they haven’t—there’s a whole early section for Tom Hardy where he’s fighting and being taunted by people. He’s got chains on him, and he’s standing on a wooden thing while people are attacking him. And in that scene, he’s wearing a much more ragged, primitive version of the mask.”
The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster courtesy Warner Brothers
When the interviewer told her that sequence is not in the final film she reportedly responded, “Well that’s an awful shame, but I suppose you have to cut things. I won’t elaborate on it too much, because it isn’t in the film, but there was another section that showed you why he had the mask and where it came from.”
Watch for this on the Blu-ray? If you want to dive into Bane’s comic book origins here’s a link to Batman vs. Bane and Knightfall by the legendary Chuck Dixon.
Tom Hardy as Bane watches as Gotham City is broken and in flames in a new poster for The Dark Knight Rises posted by Collider. The familiar tagline The Legend Ends accompanies the image. A good point made by the author that Michael Caine’s Alfred said of the Joker “some men just want to watch the world burn” in The Dark Knight. Maybe the legend ending is Gotham City – instead of Batman – and Bruce Wayne will rebuild.
Bruce Wayne’s urban renewal of Gotham City is part of Scott Snyder’s Batman run and made him a target of the Court of Owls. This image certainly adds to the theory that Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film may be based on the classic No Man’s Land epic.
Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, Total Film exclusive
Batman faces Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Total Film shares an exclusive new photo of Bane’s face close up. You can really see the detail of the villain’s mask. It reminds me of a Predator mask. It appears metal hands are opening Bane’s mouth. Tom Hardy told the magazine about the experience of wearing the facewear.
“It’s not as bad as you might think. You just put it on. Work out where you drool goes. That’s it. Mask work is good fun. This one wasn’t painful; there was the stunt mask and there was the up-close on for the sexy glam shots.”
When you look at Hardy’s expression you can tell Bane is seeing something disturbing…maybe the flying Batwing?
The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster courtesy Warner Brothers
Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy ends with the introduction of new foes in Gotham City.
Producer Emma Thomas (AKA Mrs. Christopher Nolan) spoke with Total Film about the addition of Bane and what Tom Hardy brings to The Dark Knight Rises.
“Tom made a massive physical transformation for the role… It really is an intense performance,” Thomas said, “He finally feels like a match for Batman – both physically and mentally.”
“Christian Bale and Tom Hardy are both such fiercely committed actors that pitching them as adversaries works incredibly well – they have such a great chemistry on camera.”
Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Image Courtesy Screen Rant
And on Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman, Thomas teased. “It’s completely new,” she says, “and it’s a really interesting role. You never quite know where you are with her.”
Does this mean we will not see the love/hate relationship between Bruce and Selena?
The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster courtesy Warner Brothers
Tom Hardy tells The Mirror one of the biggest challenge of playing the villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises is not being a nice guy.
“It’s such an amazing cast to work alongside, they are all so talented,” Hardy told The Mirror. “I loved being able to play a baddie and, coming from East Sheen in South-West London, that doesn’t come easily to me. I actually had to work on not being very nice. I’m genuinely a nice guy.”
I eagerly awaited The Dark Knight Rises IMAX prologue and new trailer. They looked stunning but the only critique was not being able to understand what Bane was saying.
The Dark Knight Rises teaser poster courtesy Warner Brothers
Batfans are speaking out and Warner Brothers appears to be listening. According to Heat Vision of The Hollywood Reporter the studio is asking Christopher Nolan to alter the sound so audiences can better understand the main villain more clearly. The director responded that he will alter the sound slightly.
Bane wears a mask because he’s inhaling a drug that gives him super strength. In the comics the drug is called Venom.
Opinion – While I admit it was difficult to understand Bane in the prologue and trailer – there’s no question about the physical presence of Tom Hardy. Even in a mask, the actor exudes menace. Batfans- have faith in Nolan.
