The villain whose voice launched a thousand internet parodies and memes, Tom Hardys Bane was still a terrifying presence in the final instalment of The Dark Knight Trilogy. Hardy spends the entire film with Banes breather wrapped around his face, and is still able to capture the characters malevolence through body language alone. The characters muffled voice might have been divisive among fans and critics, but it gives Bane a level of creepy intelligence that lets the audience know Batman has met his intellectual and physical match. Hardys hulking physique makes the character all the more threatening, and the first fight he shares with Batman plays out like a horror scene, where he ridicules, demolishes and finally breaks his opponent in an almost casual manner. Hardy turned what could have been in the wrong hands - a laughable character into another iconic villain, and turned the mask handicap to his benefit. He did the same thing with Mad Maxs muzzle in Fury Road, so hes must have a thing for masks covering half his face now.
