First Look: Image from The Dark Knight Rises

Below (click to enlarge) is the first released image of British actor, Tom Hardy (last seen as Eames in Inception), as the Batman villain, Bane, in the upcoming epic, The Dark Knight Rises. Once again, it is directed by Christopher Nolan, who is quickly becoming one of the lead filmmakers of our generation. He easily makes the Mt. Rushmore of best directors from 2000, and beyond. The Dark Knight Rises rounds out the trilogy of Batman films that were under Nolan’s watch, it is suspected that this will be his last Caped Crusader flick.

Bane is an intellectual and an unstoppable, juiced-up hulk of a juggernaut, he is best known for breaking the Batman’s back in the comic book series. The image of Hardy/Bane is only a glimpse, but costume-wise, it looks dead-on. Perfect. It definitely whets this fanboy’s appetite, it is going to be a tough wait. Let the hype begin.

(header image by artist, Gabriele Dell’Otto)

(via Collider)

Tom Hardy as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises

Batman vs Bane by Kenneth Loh

Bane by Alex Horley

A near-mint copy of Batman #497, the infamous issue