Opinions about The Dark Knight Rises are a little bit mixed here at ComicsAlliance, but I think we can all agree that Tom Hardy's swaggering, vest-tugging portrayal of Bane is a delight. Still, there are more than a few questions left about Bane in the film, and not just about where he received his obvious Broadway musical training.

Now, thanks to an interview at Vulture with costume designer Lindy Hemming, at least one of those mysteries has been solved: We finally know what's up with Bane's vest. Check out the answer after the cut, but beware of spoilers if you haven't seen the movie yet!According to Hemming, who hadn't seen the final cut of the film when she was interviewed, Bane's omnipresent vest isn't just an example of his dedication to sleeveless fashion:

The thing that you should have seen during that sequence is [Bane] being injured in his youth. So one of the fundamental things about his costume is that he has this scar from the back injury. Even if he hasn't got the bulletproof vest on, he still has to wear the waist belt and the braces. In that scene in the prison, where he's learning to fight the same way Batman learned to fight, he's wearing an early version of his waist belt. It's showing support, but it's not the finished one he eventually wears. He's also wearing an early version of his gas mask, all glued together ... If you look at the film, unless they've cut it-and I'm sure they haven't-there's a whole early section for Tom Hardy where he's fighting and being taunted by people. He's got chains on him, and he's standing on a wooden thing while people are attacking him. And in that scene, he's wearing a much more ragged, primitive version of the mask.

As much as that would've added to the character's backstory -- and as interesting as it'll be to see if it makes it to the DVD/Blu-Ray release -- it does make sense that it would get cut out. The movie is, after all, 164 minutes long even without it, so something had to go. Plus, seeing Bane recover from a back injury and train to fight would've done a lot to undercut the drama of watching Bruce Wayne accomplish the same thing after his own injury.

Either way, it's an interesting touch, and a solid example of how much thought was put into the detail of the characters.

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