Tom King: Bane Is Trying To Be A (Relatively) Good Person

Bane is off Venom and trying to be at peace with ruling Santa Prisca

The current Batman storyline has Batman assembling his own Suicide Squad-esque team of criminals to track down Psycho Pirate, who is currently hiding out in Santa Prisca. One huge obstacle in the team’s way is that the ruler of Santa Prisca is Bane, one of Batman’s deadliest enemies. The man who broke the bat by literally snapping Batman’s spine and put him out of action for months.

But while it’s a stretch to say Bane is reformed, in this new Rebirth continuity, he is a changed man trying to do better. He’s no longer using the  strength-enhancing Venom drug and Batman writer Tom King likens him more to Dr. Doom, who isn’t a straightforward bad guy and is usually trying to be a competent ruler and leader of his country. King talked about the trials Bane has been through in his life and teased how the current “I Am Suicide” arc will lead into Justice League vs. Suicide Squad and more:

"He has this Conan the Barbarian origin where it’s him against this impossible obstacle, with the flooding every night and dying every night and being reborn. What willpower must it take to do that? I would last two days in that place, and I was in the CIA. He lasts for 17 years. Bane came out of his world and conquered his prison. He’s looking for the biggest guy to take down, and that’s Batman. [H]e did, and it ended up as a tragedy for Bane for 20 years, as a punching bag for Batman. Bane is trying to draw into himself. He is trying to be a relatively good person. He’s trying to get off drugs and rule his country.You’ll see in issue #13. I got to do one of those classic boxes you saw as a kid, ‘To be continued in Justice League vs. Suicide Squad!’ Hugo Strange appearing in Batman #1 led to Amanda Waller which led to ‘I Am Suicide’ which leads to [Justice League vs. Suicide Squad] which leads to the launch of a new JLA. These things are piling on top of each other, all of which feeds into this central tree of the big event that Scott [Snyder] and Greg [Capullo] have coming up."

Next: Legion of Superheroes Rebirthed In Batman?

This makes it sound like Bane has a very long arc that even ties into whatever Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo are doing next year. You can catch up by reading the current run of Batman by Tom King, issue #12 is out now.

h/t Gamespot