Famous for being the faceless protagonist in Christopher Nolan movies, Tom Hardy has established himself in many famous franchises including the Venom movies, the tv series Peaky Blinders, The Dark Knight movies, and Mad Max: Fury Road.
Related: How Much Money Did Tom Hardy Make From Venom?
The actor has become highly bankable, with the Venom franchise being a good example. In a cinematic universe with multiple failures and questionable projects in the making such as Madame Web and Morbius, Venom 1 and its sequel have been profitable ventures.
Tom Hardy in Nolan’s Batman films
The franchise already had iconic villains in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, starring Heath Ledger in the legendary role of the Joker, Liam Neeson’s Henri Ducard a.k.a. Ra’s Al Ghul, and Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow, so Tom Hardy’s performance had to stand out.
Becoming the last film of the franchise, Tom Hardy joined the cast of Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, and Marion Cotillard among others. He played the role of Bane, a member of the League of Shadows and the only villain in the trilogy who was able to physically overpower Batman.
His performance remained memorable due to his physicality, interesting character dynamic with Batman, and voice modulation. Having already portrayed an MMA fighter in a previous film, his clashes with Christian Bale’s Batman also seemed filled with tension and suspense.
Was he not big enough to be Bane?
Despite weighing quite heavily while filming The Dark Knight Rises, many fans found his physique to be not up to the mark. He weighed 162 pounds in his previous film Warrior according to Men’s Journal and carried his gains in the Nolan film at 190 pounds.
In the comics, the character can lift up to a superhuman 1,500 pounds, which would require the actor portraying him to be far more formidable according to fans. While at a press event in Los Angeles, the actor addressed the fan complaints, he noted:
“I’m at 190 [pounds]… Bat-fans want me to be over 220 pounds. 400 pounds. I’m like dude!”
He further noted how criticism was expected as he was going up against a fan-favorite character, who “belongs to so many people.” Though he noted some comments still hurt him as he was trying his best. He said:
“I’m human, and I do read things. I read the comments, and I cry… I can’t cry for everybody… I just give them a job and be the best that I can be. Just trust me. I trust Nolan.”
Tom Hardy further noted how such physical transformations take a heavy toll on actors in an interview with the Daily Beast. As he gets older, he finds it harder to bounce back from the intense training, making his body ache more than ever before.
