I feel that Tom Hardy's Bane will amount to something of a footnote in the grand scheme, right above Neeson's Ra's Al Ghul. The characters that go down as classic will be Heath Ledger's Joker, and Bale's Batman.
I think that has to do with the pre-existing iconography of the characters as well. Both Batman and the Joker have been extremely powerful icons pop-culture and that's why
The Dark Knight will always be such a big-time hit. I love how that fact isn't contradicted in TDKR, that they despite raising the stakes they didn't feel like they had to "one-up" TDK. That's still the definitive Batman movie for me because it's Batman, Gordon, Dent, the Joker in their prime. That's their golden years. And it's fitting that it stands in the middle of the trilogy.
Bane to me is so much more of a post-superhero / supervillain character, and has been so even in his original creation; they created a villain who could manipulate the Batman Rogues Gallery, and effectively be someone who is beyond that. And with TDKR that connection is made with the Mutant Leader--someone who can spur people into action, who's regarded by the masses as their new saviour and he's highly destructive.
Ra's, by and large, is the exact opposite of that. Neeson's Ra's will always be memorable to me because he was Bruce's mentor and most of Nolan's mythology begins from that relationship between Bruce and Ra's. I loved that! Scarecrow was the only weakest link and even he had some role to play in the grand scheme of things by making an appearance in every episode.
Bale's Batman? I dunno. I think he will be lost in the shuffle of more iconic Batmen preceding and potentially proceeding him. I feel that when people think of Batman they think of Adam West, Keaton, and BTAS more than Bale. Hell, even Arkham City Batman seems more memorable to me. That is not an indictment of Bale but the very ....quiet take they chose to go with.
I'd have to disagree with you on that. Whenever people think Bruce Wayne they'll think about Bale's mug. He
is the definitive Batman of this generation. Arkham Asylum's Batman is from yesteryear -- the only reason it's even memorable to us is because it's Conroy doing the voice. But the sort of human-struggle and growl Bat-voice that Bale's popularized? Nah, I'll have to give him credit for that. It's gotten people's attention; after all, he's the first live-action Batman who's as terrifying to the villains and the public as much as anyone else. I was always rooting for Keaton. Not the same case for Bale-Bats.
The same goes to Gary Oldman's Gordon. Who could top that?!
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