'Gotham's Shane West Defends His Bane Costume

During production on Gotham's fifth and final season, photos of a very different looking Bane, [...]

During production on Gotham's fifth and final season, photos of a very different looking Bane, played on the show by newcomer Shane West, began surfacing online via paparazzi photos. Not long after, Gotham unveiled a more official look at the costume. To say that fans were puzzled by the new look would be a vast understatement.

While there were those who felt that the steam punk look of the new set lined up nicely with the rest of Gotham's villains, most fans took to mocking the strange threads. Despite this negative attention however, West remains positive about Bane's look.

During an interview with The Wrap, West defended his costume, saying that it looked even better than he imagined when he finally saw the footage.

"I loved the costume," West said. "For me, we had a whole different thing, because I was out there for two-and-a-half months doing the build and it took a long time to put that costume together. But the point of the costume always, which is apparently the point of what they do for all of their heroes and villains on the show — which I wasn't aware of — they build here.

"They do kind of like in a comic book, artistic sense they build everything for the face, for the chest and the abdomen and the arms and the head and that's kind of it, because they kind of fade out and they're expecting things to film — angles, colors. So things have to be filmed correctly when things are coming out."

gotham bane first look
(Photo: Jeff Neumann)

West went on to say that part of the reason people hated the suit so much was that the leaked photos ruined the reveal that was planned. The intention was for the show to build toward that epic moment.

"And you're just coming out there — I had like six-inch heels on the boots that they added — and you just walk out there and they're waiting and they're just snapping godawful photos," he continued. "The joke was, at least let me pose. Or at least come in for a real one rather than me just sitting here and looking like this monster that's going to fall over."

"Some of the photos are better than others. And then, I think once you see it on film- and now that I finally have, I'm very happy with it the way it was filmed, the way it was shot."

What do you think of Bane's new suit on Gotham? Let us know in the comments!

Shane West will debut during next Thursday's episode of Gotham, which airs on January 31st at 8 pm ET on FOX.

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