First Look At Shane West As Bane On Gotham

Now that Shane West has been confirmed as Bane for Gotham season 5, there’s no more room for debate as to whom Eduardo Dorrance may be. At first, it was assumed he’d wind up as King Snake, the brute’s father in the comics, but it’s important to stress how that guy’s first name was “Edmund,” not “Eduardo.” Basically, the producers of the show gave the iconic villain a full name to go along with their reinterpretation.

And though the creative minds behind the Batman prequel series have taken liberties with certain characters’ origins and such, much of the costuming has been pretty spot on. If you don’t believe me, please refer to past appearances made by Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Firefly, Professor Pyg and Solomon Grundy. I’d throw the Joker in there as well, but Jeremiah Valeska isn’t actually the true Clown Prince of Crime. Still, I’d take his look over what was presented in the Suicide Squad movie any day.

When it comes to Bane, however, the costume department veered a little left from what most of us would expect.

As you can see below, our first full look at one of the Caped Crusader’s most dangerous adversaries has arrived courtesy of producer Tze Chun’s Twitter page. And from the look of it, one would assume that a middle ground between comic book Bane and Tom Hardy’s iteration in The Dark Knight Rises was sought.

Right now, I’m inclined to think this is a sort of “proto-Bane” in this universe, though I could be wrong. If you were to ask me who I thought this was though without having prior knowledge of it being Bane, I’d tell you it’s Kabal from Mortal Kombat.

Judging by the comments from fans in response to Chun’s Tweet, the reveal is already proving to be divisive, but I’ll reserve my final judgment until I get to see West in action. I mean, even if I don’t end up digging his costume, that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy his performance.

Gotham returns for its fifth season sometime in early 2019 on Fox.