6. Defeating The Hero At The Start Of The Movie, But Not Killing Him
Appears In: The Dark Knight Rises & Iron Man 3 In The Dark Knight Rises, Bane breaks Batman's back and throws him into a pit from which escape seems unlikely. Why does he not just kill him after breaking his back? Oh, because he wants Bruce to see Gotham fall before his very eyes, by way of a rubbish TV that Bruce ends up smashing anyway. And In Iron Man 3, The Mandarin blows up Tony's beach-side home, but doesn't succeed in killing him; you think when you're dealing with a man as resourceful as Tony Stark, you'd recover a corpse before you start celebrating... It's silly because it instantly reminds me of a James Bond villain, who will gleefully reveal the intricacies of their plan to the hero while they're subdued, and this will ultimately prove to be their downfall. In Bane and The Mandarin's cases, their hubris lost them the fight, and given how seemingly intelligent they're supposed to be, it's just a bit silly, really.