Batman Supervillains Bane & Deathstroke Getting Their Own Movie at DC Studios
Two iconic Batman supervillains look to be getting their own film in what could be an epic bad guy team-up film.
With writer/director James Gunn’s Superman done filming and currently in post-production, Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios has arguably the biggest name in all of comics leading off their upcoming slate, titled Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters, which includes both feature films and TV series. The only other DC superhero who can rival Superman in popularity and import is Batman, and Gunn and Safran have not one but two Batman movies upcoming—Matt Reeves Batman Part II, officially under DC’s Elseworlds banner, and a reboot of the character in The Brave and the Bold, which is based on Grant Morrison’s comic that explores Bruce Wayne and his son, Damian, who ends up becoming Batman’s sidekick, Robin. Yet Gotham and Batman’s murky world is bigger than just Batman, of course. The Hollywood Reporter scoops that two classic Batman supervillains, Bane and Deathstroke, will be getting their own film.
Bane, as played by Tom Hardy, was one of the key antagonists in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy-capping The Dark Knight Rises. The hulking, haunted supervillain was almost too much for Christian Bale’s Batman in that film, breaking his back and banishing him to a living hell underground. In the new film, Bane will be joined by the no less lethal Deathstroke, who was played by Joe Manganiello in the director’s cut of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, where he finds out Batman’s identity from Lex Luthor. THR reports that the script is being written by Captain America: Brave New World scribe Matthew Orton.
Bane joined Batman’s Rogue’s Gallery in 1990, dreamed up by writer Buck Dixon and artist Graham Nolan. It was in the classic storyline “Knightfall” that Bane broke Batman’s back and made himself one of the most marquee villains in Batman’s world. In Christopher Nolan’s film, Bane is a creature of the brutal subterranean prison, the Pit, where he spends most of his life learning how to master his formidable strength while being taught by the League of Shadows. He’s got superhuman strength, but it also causes him immense suffering, requiring him to huff analgesic gas from a mask.
Deathstroke first came on the scene on the pages of the comics in 1980, and the super assassin became a popular villain. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Perez, he’s leaped over to the screen in the live-action Titans series and Manganiello’s cameo. There has been talk about Deathstroke getting his own film from The Raid director Gareth Evans, but it hasn’t come to pass.
DC Studios has another major Batman villain preparing to appear on the screen, of course—Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is dancing and singing his way back on the big screen in Joker: Folie á Deux, on October 4. Meanwhile, on the small screen, there’s The Penguin, an excellent spinoff series from Matt Reeves’ The Batman, featuring Colin Farrell’s waddling villain.
For more on DC Studios, check out these stories:
Alan Tudyk Has Secret Role in James Gunn’s “Superman”
“Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” Casts Matthias Schoenaerts as the Villain
James Gunn’s “Superman” Soars Past the Finish Line
James Gunn Says “Superman” is Nearly Done Filming While Praising City of Cleveland
Featured image: LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 22: A Bane costume from the 2012 Dark Knight Rises film worn by Tom Hardy and designed by Lindy Hemming is on display at the DC Comics Exhibition: Dawn Of Super Heroes at the O2 Arena on February 22, 2018 in London, England. The exhibition, which opens on February 23rd, features 45 original costumes, models and props used in DC Comics productions including the Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman films. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
