Gotham: Shane West Reflects on Playing His Favorite Batman Villain Bane
Gotham star Shane West reveals that his character Bane is his favorite Batman villain. Gotham, which ran from 2014 to 2019 until season 5, is a Batman prequel series that follows the origins of many of the fictional city's most popular heroes and villains. This includes James Gordon (Ben McKenzie), Bruce Wayne (David Mazouz), The Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor), Selina Kyle (Camren Bicondova), The Riddler (Cory Michael Smith), and Harvey Dent (Nicholas D'Agosto), as well as West's Eduardo Dorrance, who took on the mantle of Bane after nearly dying after being exposed to Venom.
Bane, who wears a distinctive gas mask to provide him with constant drugs, is a popular member of Batman's rogues gallery. In live-action, he previously appeared in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin as played by Jeep Swenson and Michael Reid McKay (the latter played Bane's skinny, weakling form that appeared when he took off his mask in the film). He was also famously played by Tom Hardy in Christopher Nolan's mega-hit finale to his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Before the character's appearance on Gotham in 2019, Tom Hardy's Bane was the most recent live-action iteration of the character.
Screen Rant had the opportunity to sit down with West to discuss his new film The Outsiders, which is currently out in theaters and on VOD. During the conversation, West discussed the process for being cast in Gotham season 5. He says that, when they offered him the role of Bane, West felt there was "no way am I saying no to this." He thought Gotham's version of the character, alongside a young Batman and Catwoman, was "unique." Check out West's full quote below:
"When Gotham came to me, it was their final season. They knew it was their final season and they saved a couple of villains for that final ride, and Bane was one of them. When they came to me for Bane, I was like, "Well, that's my favorite Batman villain. So in no way am I saying no to this. We got to make this work." Gotham was well-known for doing their different takes on the backgrounds and the history and then, obviously, the age they jumped in. Batman was so young on that show and Catwoman was so young on that show. I thought it was unique. It was fun to join a show. I had never done that before."
It was probably quite a surprise for West to be offered such an iconic Batman villain role. Up to that point, the actor was best known for his role as the romantic hero Landon Carter opposite Mandy Moore in the 2002 Nicholas Sparks romance film A Walk to Remember. West followed up that film playing the even more famous literary character Tom Sawyer in 2003's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, so stepping over to the dark side, especially as one of his favorite characters, was likely a real thrill.
Although Gotham only got the chance to have West's Bane star in four episodes before going off the air, the series gave him a pivotal role in the final Gotham season 5. And while West was only able to explore the iconic DC comic villain for a short time, he has at least been able to join the pantheon of live-action Banes. For someone who considers Bane their favorite Batman villain, this is an exclusive and exciting prospect indeed.