It’s clear that over the years, the Dark Knight has made a long list of enemies as he tries to put everything in order within Gotham, and while we know Bane and Batman have a complex rivalry that has become the stuff of legend. from the comics, but many of the fans are probably unaware of some of the main reasons this issue developed.
You see, the legendary comic book series greatly deepened the animosity between them in the mid-’90s, because, while most readers and even many non-readers are familiar with the story of knightfallfewer are familiar with what came next and how complicated things would become.
In 1996 it was developed Legacyin all the titles of the Batman line at that time, that is: Batman, Detective Comics, Catwoman, Robin and Shadow of the Bat, so, as well as in a series of specials, in particular the Batman prequel miniseries : Bane of the Demon, written by Chuck Dixon, Graham Nolan, and Tom Palmer, and the Batman: Bane one-shot by Chuck Dixon and Rick Burchett, which actually served as the conclusion to the story.
This is how Legacy heavily involved a team between Bane, Ra’s al Ghul Y Thalia al Ghul as they unleash a deadly pandemic across the world, which only Batman and his allies can stop, this was like a continuation of the Contagion storyline, where an earlier version of the virus featured in Legacy was introduced, and not only revealed the source of the virus known as Ebola Gulf A, but also detailed the forging of the deadly alliance of two of Batman’s most dangerous foes.
But, among this chaos, a complication is detailed in Batman: Bane of the Demonand it’s a detail that could very well have come to define Bane’s animosity toward Batman from that point on, so one result of Bane’s collaboration with Ra’s al Ghul is that Bane begins a short, tumultuous backstory. of love with Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra, for which he becomes the love interest of Batman himself.
Talia then soon comes to see Bane as an unsuitable lover, especially in comparison to Batman, and rejects his advances from then on, causing Bane to resent Batman even deeper, seeing him as the reason for the fight. loss of Talia’s affections, however, at the end of Legacy, Talia is presumed dead, the result of an explosion aboard Ra’s al Ghul’s yacht that Bane manages to escape from towards the end of the story in Robin #33 of Chuck Dixon and Staz Johnson.
So unsurprisingly, it results in even more resentment towards Batman, blaming him for Talia’s death, plus all of these events culminate in a very dark nightmare sequence for Bane in Batman: Bane one-shotwhere Talia not only openly rejects Bane’s affections, but also mocks him for not measuring up to Batman.
So in addition to not having Talia’s affections, Bane is filled with insecurities and takes him to unimaginable lengths, so while Bane’s hatred of Batman would continue to grow and change throughout the ’90s and beyond, with his evil machinations reaching even lower depths of cruelty in recent years, it must never be forgotten that Bane’s motivations come from a very human place in his being.
For what has always been defined by his insecurities and resentments, as he remembers how he was separated from others from birth, he is an individual made up of contradictions, neither completely a brain nor completely a brute, and rarely is he in total control of his actions. actions, so Bane is one of Batman’s most layered villains, but he didn’t get it overnight.
It took years of character development and plotting for Bane to go from the man who broke the Bat to Batman’s love rival, swearing eternal revenge that only fills him with pain.