There has been a lot of controversy regarding Bane's costume because of how different it looks from the traditional Bane look in the comics. I will admit that when I first initially looked at it back when the first set photos leaked online, I was sceptical, but once I looked at it more and thought about it, you can see why Christopher Nolan did what he did, not to annoy fans, but pay more function to the character and makes a lot of sense. I have a some reasons why I really like the costume.
WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE MASK
- Rather than having tubes coming from his head and body and venom getting pumped into his brain which is obviously unrealistic and too fantastical for Nolan's films, they have compacted it to a mask/headgear and the venom seems to be in vapour form instead.
- The mask is an advantage because with the traditional look, all Batman has to do is pull his tubes out or throw a batarang at them and he will be weakened and that is the usual predictable outcome, but because he has a mask he is harder to defeat as everything is compacted to his face.
- The mask looks more menacing than the lucador mask because everytime you look at it, you see something different such as a spider cupping his face, squid, bent screws, dog maul, facehugger, skeleton hands/fingers, clenched fists, trap (it's almost like all of your fears are in one mask aesthetically)
- As Lindy Hemming the costume designer said, the mask sort of looks animalistic (dog maul) which suits his character more.
- It also looks menacing because it covers his ears, nose and mouth and can only see the intense performance through his eyes.
- The mask still pays homage to the wide eyes on the lucador mask as there is a large space of his eye area shown when he wears the mask.
WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE TACTICAL VEST
- In the real world if your this big criminal mastermind, you can't walk around dressed as a wrestler as you will be laughed at.
- The costume in the comics is not functional as it has no real purpose and doesn't protect him which the tactical vest does.
- At no point in the comics in his backstory does it mention that he was a wrestler, but for some reason he dresses up like one, his character in the comics was more of a mercenary/warrior/tactician/strategist and his costume didn't reflect that but instead made him look more like a dumb brute dressed like that, so this new costume suits his character more and looks more mercenary than wrestler.
- They still kept homage to the wrestling vest straps with the V neck and the straps on his tactical vest.
- Even the camo/mountainous colours are more suited because he travels over the mountains of the world so his costume looks hand made and clunky rather than the black colour in the comics. Also the lighter brown colours is a stark contrast to dark grey/black mask which makes the mask stand out more.
WHAT I THINK ABOUT BANE'S SIZE
- After 'Vengeance of Bane' and 'Knightfall', comic book writers, film and television (animated series) haven't done him justice character wise, but stayed true to his traditional look and played up his brawn side rather than brain making him less complex.
- Also in the comics, his muscles are way over exaggerated in size and way too big.
- It is sensible Nolan decided to tone down his strength and size even though he is still strong and focus/playing up his more cerebral qualties and intelligent side of the character which hasn't been tapped yet.
WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE CHOICE OF ACTOR (TOM HARDY)
- Nolan picked a real/proper actor for this role (Tom Hardy).
- This choice shows that he is taking the character seriously and wants a great performance for his cerebral qualities by a real actor.
- I'm glad Nolan didn't go the safe/predictable route and cast a pro wrestler, a body builder or Dwayne Johnson, if he did go this route it would of shown that he would have been going for the brute side of the character.
- Glad there is no muscle suits (Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut or like Bane in Batman & Robin), CGI or a pro wrestler with Tom Hardy voice over, it is just raw Tom Hardy acting with his thought out body movements.