Christopher Nolan has explained that Tom Hardy’s character Bane in The Dark Knight Rises contains “a little bit” of Darth Vader.
Speaking about Bane, who is the main villain in the upcoming sequel, Nolan said: "[He's] something you've never seen before. It's a little bit of Darth Vader, a little bit of this, little bit of that... It's very unique and that's what you get with great actors like Tom Hardy, he's not just going to go through the motions, he's going to try and craft a character that really makes sense for him.
"He has really gone in through the roots of the character and approached the evil."
Nolan continued to explain to Access Hollywood the intense preparation that was required of Hardy for the role saying: "He learned how to do all of this fighting with Christian Bale, both of them wearing these crazy outfits where they could barely breathe. In Tom's case, with this mask over his face, very tough to breathe, very hot, working in some very challenging environments.
"There was a lot of preparation that went into it, and it really shows on screen."
The Dark Knight Rises is released worldwide on July 20.
