While I think Anne Hathaway as Catwoman is an inspired choice for The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final film in Christopher Nolan's excellent series of Batman films, I'm disappointed that Bane is being introduced into the trilogy. Bane isn't so much a character as a plot device. And of course, by casting Tom Hardy as Bane, Nolan is adhering to that well-established post-racial tradition of casting white actors as nonwhite characters. Casting Donald Glover as Spider-Man would be a form of blasphemy to many in the mostly white geek masses, whereas casting English Hardy as a character of Hispanic, Caribbean origin is totally kosher.
In the early '90s, DC Comics introduced Doomsday, a nigh-unstoppable alien monster, as part of the iconic story line in which Superman is killed defending Metropolis. Doomsday was necessary for limiting collateral damage -- Doomsday had no history, no connections to other characters that would be affected, and therefore his impact on the larger comic book universe beyond killing Superman would be minimal.
Bane is basically Batman's Doomsday. Like Doomsday, he was introduced for a single purpose. Despite attempts to grant Bane a history and personality, he's just a glorified meathead with 'roid rage who was introduced in order to deal the Dark Knight an epic defeat -- he divines Batman's secret identity, and using a chemical that enhances his strength, he briefly cripples Batman by breaking his back. Since then, he's served as the premier member of the least interesting subset of Batman's rogues gallery: those villains who try to defeat Batman in actual physical combat. As with Lex Luthor and Superman, the Joker is Batman's iconic nemesis because of his ability to cause him immense psychological suffering, not because he can stomp him in a fistfight. The fact that neither villain is the hero's physical equal is part of what makes them great dramatic foils.
Comic books require characters that serve as mere cogs in the narrative -- but films less so. Comic writers have to churn out an endless font of story lines, whereas directors of films based on comics have the advantages of culling the most interesting elements of the stories that have already been told. As far as Batman is concerned, Bane doesn't even come close.
