Arrow Nolan's Bane vs. Slade: more brutal and scary?

[ardee]

Who came closer to utterly breaking the hero they were after, and who caused more pain and suffering to the city they were targetting? Also, which character had better depth and a more interesting background?

 

[gugumugats]

Both have really stupid and shallow motivations that are explicitly mentioned (loyalty to Talia, avenging Shado) but implicitly both have similar motivations and it took me until seeing Slade in Arrow to appreciate TDKR more.

Other than Slade being betrayed by his friend, I think both Bane and Slade hold enmity for their respective opponents because each one was loved or chosen by X (either Shado or Ra's/League of Shadows) but ended up betraying or indirectly killing X.

It's as if both Slade and Bane feel they would have done a better job of they were chosen in the first place and somehow feel a righteous need to punish their opponent in honor of X.

In other words, I don't think its a matter of vengeance, but punishment (omg I just quoted the Punisher movie ...)

Between the two though, I picked Slade because it seemed more personal in his mission to raze Starling just to get to Ollie, whereas for Bane, breaking Batman felt like a side mission compared to destroying Gotham. Plus he straight up murdered the guy's mom in front of him after making him pick between Moira and Thea.

 

[Boy Scout]

Slade. No contest.

 

[Lencho01]

Bane was supposed to be brutal and scary?

 

[DarKush]

Bane broke the Batman physically and perhaps mentally/spiritually-for a short while-while Slade broke Arrow spiritually/mentally while being able to dominate him physically. This is a tough one. I got to say though that Slade felt like a bigger threat to me, since he had super strength while being so far ahead of Oliver during most of the season.

 

[Snow Queen]

Bane easily. Though Slade was really good too.

 

[Grommers]

Slade is/was left alive..
had bane lived, it would of been a lot more dangerous.

 

[super85]

I like both. Prefer Bane.

 

[Human Torch]

I say Bane,given the criteria of "brutal and scary". I enjoyed Slade a lot though.

 

[Frodo]

For me it was Slade . Bane's voice has become so recognizable, mocked and made fun of that it his scaryness has been taken away a bit. However both actors are on my list for Potential Bond replacements after Craig is done.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Bane. If Slade had a better motivation for turning evil, I might have gone with him because I loved what they did with him up until that point. But his motivations to turn didn't make any sense. He's so angry at Oliver for kinda sorta choosing to save Sara over Shado that he's willing to kill everyone in an entire city, yet he had the guy WHO ACTUALLY KILLED HER right in front of him, and he let him go? WTF?!

I guess it also irks me a bit that they veered so far off from Deathstroke's traditional MO here too. He's an assassin, plain and simple. He doesn't let morals or personal vendettas get it in the way. I think it would have been so much better to have him and Ollie part ways on the island as comrades, only to be at odds years later when Deathstroke shows up to take some people out as part of a contract. Making him this schizophrenic mastermind is essentially turning him into a different character.

Bane, personality wise, was actually pretty similar to his comic book counterpart... a brilliant tactician and combatant, with a plan to "break" the Batman and destroy Gotham. Some of the details of his origin were changed (or they ultimately turned out to be Talia's origin) but overall, I find it to be a more faithful adaptation.

 

[Human Torch]

^ Pretty much my assessment as well.

 

[smallville fan]

Mirakuru

Enough said

 

[Victarion]

What did Slade do, and how closely was he tied to Arrow? I

mean, with Bane you have the whole thing of the outcast son coming back to oust the favored son by accomplishing his adopted father's scheme on a broader, far more successful scale while also twisting the hero's ideals by bringing out the brutality and ugliness in a people the hero believed could step up and do great things. Its the deepest of the TDK Trilogy villains' motivations, and the most original given the use of morally outraged civilians and prisoners, rather than more psychotic goons. Slade has quite a bit to measure up to in being compared to Bane...I mean, a scary costume and bearing is fine and all, but its superficial window dressing that doesn't amount to much in the long run versus a demagogue that can cause a people to start executing their own from a sense of economic disenfranchisement. Bane's breaking of the Batman was also a far more personal thing when you consider his origins in the film as the son that was outcast by Ra's.

 

[BatmanBeyond]

What did Slade do, and how closely was he tied to Arrow? I

mean, with Bane you have the whole thing of the outcast son coming back to oust the favored son by accomplishing his adopted father's scheme on a broader, far more successful scale while also twisting the hero's ideals by bringing out the brutality and ugliness in a people the hero believed could step up and do great things. Its the deepest of the TDK Trilogy villains' motivations, and the most original given the use of morally outraged civilians and prisoners, rather than more psychotic goons. Slade has quite a bit to measure up to in being compared to Bane...I mean, a scary costume and bearing is fine and all, but its superficial window dressing that doesn't amount to much in the long run versus a demagogue that can cause a people to start executing their own from a sense of economic disenfranchisement. Bane's breaking of the Batman was also a far more personal thing when you consider his origins in the film as the son that was outcast by Ra's.

Yeah, I can't help but chuckle at people who claim Bane's motivation in TDKR was lame - it's not necessarily stated outright, but there are clear hints in the movie which underline that his motivation was much more than loyalty to Talia; the latter aspect is definitely part of it, but you've also got his stated desire to fulfill Ra's Al-Ghul's destiny, thereby surpassing his mentor's achievements and also one-upping Bruce Wayne, who betrayed everything the League stood for.

You can still play around with Slade's motivation and make it more than him being ******** about Shado's death because he half-assedly loved her - you can view it as a continuation of his history of close comrades betraying him, which started with Wintergreen and is then carried on by Oliver who betrays both him and Shado.

As for the intimidation comparison, I think you could argue that both villains were the most intimidating ones in their two respective universes so far. I still Bane takes this though - say what you will about the voice and it having become a part of pop culture, but I thought it worked really well in the context of the movie, where it made his hulking presence that much more unsettling in the sense that you weren't really expecting him to sound like that. Hardy's physicality in the role was great as well, although I can't really take anything away from Manu's turn as Slade - especially the command and charisma he exuded through his voice alone.

At the end of the day, the scale and scope of things in TDKR don't really make the comparison fair to me. I will say that I prefer Bane, but I highly enjoyed Manu's take on Slade and can't wait for him to be back this season.

 

[Victarion]

Yeah, I can't help but chuckle at people who claim Bane's motivation in TDKR was lame - it's not necessarily stated outright, but there are clear hints in the movie which underline that his motivation was much more than loyalty to Talia; the latter aspect is definitely part of it, but you've also got his stated desire to fulfill Ra's Al-Ghul's destiny, thereby surpassing his mentor's achievements and also one-upping Bruce Wayne, who betrayed everything the League stood for.

You can still play around with Slade's motivation and make it more than him being ******** about Shado's death because he half-assedly loved her - you can view it as a continuation of his history of close comrades betraying him, which started with Wintergreen and is then carried on by Oliver who betrays both him and Shado.

As for the intimidation comparison, I think you could argue that both villains were the most intimidating ones in their two respective universes so far. I still Bane takes this though - say what you will about the voice and it having become a part of pop culture, but I thought it worked really well in the context of the movie, where it made his hulking presence that much more unsettling in the sense that you weren't really expecting him to sound like that. Hardy's physicality in the role was great as well, although I can't really take anything away from Manu's turn as Slade - especially the command and charisma he exuded through his voice alone.

At the end of the day, the scale and scope of things in TDKR don't really make the comparison fair to me. I will say that I prefer Bane, but I highly enjoyed Manu's take on Slade and can't wait for him to be back this season.

You could look at Slade similarly: TDKR had 2.5 ish hours during which to develop Bane, while Arrow presumably had multiple hour long episodes. Is Slade the main villain for the first season? He was my favorite villain in the old Teen Titans cartoon...

 

[BatmanBeyond]

You could look at Slade similarly: TDKR had 2.5 ish hours during which to develop Bane, while Arrow presumably had multiple hour long episodes. Is Slade the main villain for the first season? He was my favorite villain in the old Teen Titans cartoon...

True. I think they did a good job of developing Slade during the first season, as a mentor figure for Oliver and his comrade on the island, but the way they showcased his motivation for turning evil later on was pretty weak. I hope they move away from it when he's reintroduced during this season. A lot of people seem to want him to join the Suicide Squad as their leader and I think that could work nicely, as long as it's done right.

 

[gugumugats]

I agree that Slade's explicitly mentioned and implicit motivations were kinda weak compared to Bane's but I'm guessing that was one rationale for the plot device that is Mirakuru.

Arrow had the advantage in having a story told over multiple episodes. One of the things that stand out is how Roy became a foil to Slade especially in how Ollie chose to deal with Roy's burgeoning abilities.

 

[Emperor_Zerg]

I know this poll is a little old, but I just wanted to give my opinion.

I believe that Slade had the motivations to want to kill and torture Oliver, but it was handled a little poorly. With Slade being betrayed by his former partner, it gave him insecurity issues. Then the woman he loves chooses Oliver (he sees Shado and Oliver sleep together), then Shado gets killed because Oliver chose Sara over Shado which shows that Oliver didn't care for Shado the way that Slade did (in his mind at least). But the only problem was that the show only emphasized the part of Oliver choosing Sara over Shado and that's it. Although, I did like how Slade see's Shado in his mind manipulating him because of the Mirakuru. But overall, I feel like it could have been handled a little better.

As for Bane, I kind of wish that the action scenes were done a little better to make him more menacing because he has so many great one liners and presence, but it didn't show as much when he's fighting.

I picked Slade though. I feel like he broke Oliver in everyway possible in a way that makes sense. I still don't get how you can buy a bunch of future contracts the day they expire and not be able to report it as fraud.

 

[Ajai]

Bane was definitely more menacing and succeeded at mentally and physically 'breaking' his opponent than Slade was.

 

[Cobblepot]

Slade was more like comics Bane than Bane was in TDKR.

Slade had the Venom, letting every one loose to the point tha Oliver was already weary and tired, was his own man etc.

 

[BH/HHH]

Slade by a million miles, better look and better voice. Plus he as more interesting, Manu Bennett's Slase Wilson is one of the best comic book adapted villains in film or TV history in my opinion. I really didn't care much for Hardy's Bane, the stupid voice, the dull look and the fact ultimately he was only a lackey ruined him for me.

 

[p4poetic]

Slade mainly because there's a personal connection there between him and Oliver; they were once brothers. Its just not the same when its a total stranger like Bane.

I know this poll is a little old, but I just wanted to give my opinion.

I believe that Slade had the motivations to want to kill and torture Oliver, but it was handled a little poorly. With Slade being betrayed by his former partner, it gave him insecurity issues. Then the woman he loves chooses Oliver (he sees Shado and Oliver sleep together), then Shado gets killed because Oliver chose Sara over Shado which shows that Oliver didn't care for Shado the way that Slade did (in his mind at least). But the only problem was that the show only emphasized the part of Oliver choosing Sara over Shado and that's it. Although, I did like how Slade see's Shado in his mind manipulating him because of the Mirakuru. But overall, I feel like it could have been handled a little better.

As for Bane, I kind of wish that the action scenes were done a little better to make him more menacing because he has so many great one liners and presence, but it didn't show as much when he's fighting.

I picked Slade though. I feel like he broke Oliver in everyway possible in a way that makes sense. I still don't get how you can buy a bunch of future contracts the day they expire and not be able to report it as fraud.

But there was never a choice. Shado hooking up with Oliver doesn't mean she chose Oliver over Slade. She didn't even know he had feelings for her until he was literally dying. Same goes for Shado's death. Oliver jumped in front of Sara because Ivo had the gun pointed at her. Had he pointed the gun at Shado he would have done the same. I'm still frustrated that Oliver just took the blame instead of explaining to Slade what happened.

 

[BH/HHH]

Slade mainly because there's a personal connection there between him and Oliver; they were once brothers. Its just not the same when its a total stranger like Bane.

But there was never a choice. Shado hooking up with Oliver doesn't mean she chose Oliver over Slade. She didn't even know he had feelings for her until he was literally dying. Same goes for Shado's death. Oliver jumped in front of Sara because Ivo had the gun pointed at her. Had he pointed the gun at Shado he would have done the same. I'm still frustrated that Oliver just took the blame instead of explaining to Slade what happened.

agreed

 

[yonny616]

Bane. Slade was really menacing though. Also Bane is awesome in freestyle.
[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLFAXvFYhsE[/YT]

I won't lie though, Slade's got some moves.
[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afk4OGOKaUw[/YT]