Bane's Origin Sequence Cut from Dark Knight Rises

Naturally, The Dark Knight Rises SPOILERS follow...

Much like Ra's Al Ghul in Batman Begins and the Joker in The Dark Knight, Tom Hardy's Bane was never truly given a fleshed out backstory within the context of Christopher Nolan's final Batman film. As we learned in the final moments of TDKR, the origin we were actually shown belonged to Marion Cotillard's Talia Al Ghul.

However, according to the project's costume designer Lindy Hemming, there was a time when a sequence exploring Bane's early days was incorporated into story:

"The other thing that you should have seen during that sequence is him being injured in his youth," Hemming told GQ. "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...

"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."

When informed that that sequence indeed had been left out of the final film, Lindy replied, "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."

So there you have it. Would you have liked to see a sequence like this in The Dark Knight Rises? Or was the Talia reveal just enough to satisfy your curiosity? Let us know what you think in the Comments below!

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.