The Batman Sequel Could Reportedly Include Bane

According to a new report, the character of Bane might appear in a potential follow-up to Matt Reeves’ upcoming superhero origin story The Batman. In the current film, a Year Two version of the Dark Knight (Robert Pattinson) will find himself squaring off against a number of villains, while Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz) muddies the waters. The current installment, which had to halt production in March due to that pandemic that has ground Hollywood to a halt in recent months, is expected to arrive in theaters next fall, but the studio is already apparently mulling follow-ups that could take place in the world of Reeves’s film (a distinctly different world from the one where Ben Affleck was Batman in Justice League).

According to a new video from Heroic Hollywood, Bane is a character who has come up in conversations, and at one point there was apparently chatter about him getting his own movie (presumably adapting the Vengeance of Bane one-shot that served as his first appearance and in which he was a hapless victim who became hardened by a cruel world). That’s a non-starter, though, because the villain is apparently being considered for a follow-up to The Batman instead.

The pitch for a Bane stand-alone movie reportedly didn’t even get to the pitch stage, with Warner Bros. rejecting it outright since Bane is “officially off he table, in the event that Warner Bros. might use him in a future Batman film.”

The character of Bane was created by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan in early 1993. His first major story, and still the one that defines his character, was “Knightfall,” a multi-part crossover epic where he took over Gotham after defeating Batman. How? Well, he set the villains of Arkham Asylum free and, while they ran rampant on the city, consolidated his power in organized crime circles while setting about learning who Batman was. Eventually, with the other villains defeated by Batman and back in custody, Bane arrived at Wayne Manor for a fight, defeating Batman and breaking his back. Bruce was left paralyzed for a brief period, during which time Jean-Paul Valley — a newly-introduced vigilante known as Azrael — took over for Batman.

Bane made his live-screen debut in Batman and Robin as dim-witted, green-tinted muscle for Poison Ivy, then a far more traditional version popped up in The Dark Knight Rises. The character also played a role on Gotham, proving that DC and Warner Bros. do not seem to fear putting too much of him into circulation in a short period.

This also suggests that Joker is unlikely to appear in a future Batman movie from Reeves and Pattinson, since he got a solo film without issue. It makes sense, given that there have already been two feature films in the last 30 years or so that pitted Batman against The Joker for an entire movie.