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The Dark Knight Rises: Deleted Scene Reveals Bane’s Backstory

fIn an interview with GQ, out this week, The Dark Knight Rises‘ costume designer Lindy Hemming inadvertently discussed a deleted scene from the film that gives some insight into Bane’s backstory.

In discussing Bane’s wardrobe design, Hemming talks about the ways Bane’s pre-Batman life was integrated into the clothes he wore, particularly his back brace and facemask but not limited to those. Along the way, Hemming admits that she hasn’t seen the film yet, which makes sense when she goes on to illustrate her point with an anecdote about a sequence that never made it into the film:

GQ: What!? You haven’t seen the movie yet? 
Lindy Hemming: It’s not out in England yet, but the other thing that you should have seen during that sequence is him 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.

GQ: I remember one scene where we see his face covered in bandages, is this what you’re referring to? 
Lindy Hemming: Well, 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.

GQ: I think that Bane scene must’ve been cut…
Lindy Hemming: 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.

Maybe we’ll get an even longer director’s cut of the film? Something that’s so illustrative of the character and that crew members thought couldn’t have been cut seems exactly like the kind of thing you might want to restore to the cut on Blu-Ray.