Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is known for its gritty atmosphere, but its version of Bane has some bizarre similarities to the Shredder in the goofy '90s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies! Tom Hardy brought the infamous villain to life in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, and played him with both terrifying strength and cunning intellect. His portrayal was a welcome change from the nearly mute Bane that was seen in 1997's Batman and Robin, as Hardy's Bane was more comic-accurate and a better fit for the intensity of the Nolan films. This version of Bane was built to be the antithesis of a silly '90s superhero movie villain.
By contrast, the Shredder (James Saito) of the 1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comes from an entirely different world, despite both having their origins in comics. The live-action Turtles trilogy is unabashedly campy and fun, with its elaborate puppet Turtles and heightened ninja action. Its villain is dramatic, but not in a particularly grounded way. Shredder's theatricality is more in line with the comics and cartoons of the era. On the surface, he appears to have little in common with gritty villains like The Dark Knight Rises' Bane — but comparing the two characters reveals a different picture.
Tom Hardy's Bane is actually not so different from Shredder: There are parallels in their backstories, mannerisms, and plans. They both were trained by ninja clans but were later excommunicated. Bane was trained by the League of Shadows but was exiled for reminding Ra's Al Ghul (Liam Neeson) of his late wife's fate; Shredder lost his place in his own clan for killing both the woman he loved and the man she chose over him out of jealousy. The two of them had significant facial scarrings and opted to cover their disfigurements with what would become their signature masks.
Both Shredder and Bane even had similar plot arcs. Looking to strengthen their own influences, Bane and Shredder moved to major (in-universe) U.S. cities, with Bane heading to Gotham and Shredder setting up base in New York City. From there, Bane and Shredder started to assemble their own armies of the disenfranchised. Shredder preyed on New York's restless youth to form the Foot Clan, offering expensive gifts in exchange for them doing his evil bidding. Bane, too, showed his skills as a master manipulator in rallying up his own henchmen. His speeches appealed to the bubbling anger of Gotham's working-class toward its wealthier population. He successfully urged them to take up arms, but his calls for revolution were false. He thought all of Gotham's citizens were corrupt, no matter their class, and conspired to take them all off with a massive neutron bomb.
Shredder and Bane even had the same slow, dramatic manner of speaking, and were able to physically overpower their opposing heroes (although Shredder never broke any Turtle shells.) It is hard to believe that Christopher Nolan was directly inspired by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while directing The Dark Knight Rises, so the similarities are likely coincidental — but are eerily strong nonetheless. Still, the films differentiate themselves through their overall mood and tone, showing the versatility of comics as a source material.