Bane (Biting the Heel)

"Bane--

The hardest of them all,

the animal who'd

broken the first Batman!"

--Azrael

"The Lord God said

to the serpent,

...

You

shall bruise his heel."

Although Batman & Robin might have made it seem like the only muscle Bane never exercised was his brain, the comic books tell a different story.

"The Man who Broke the Bat" series follows the story of how Bane devilishly crafts a way to destroy Batman. He begins with the knowledge that there is no way that he could beat Batman alone. This leads him to tear down the walls of Arkham, releasing its prisoners. It takes three months for Batman to fight and recapture all of the escapees. At the end of this time he is weak and tired in need of rest. Batman goes home, to be Bruce Wayne, but when he gets there Bane ambushes him and leaves him a paraplegic.

Bane is the only villain who has (literally) broken Batman's back. He is the only villain who has made the Bat recognize a self-hopelessness that one should never have to grasp. He is also the only villain who leaves Batman with the realization of how weak, powerless, and alone he really is.

There is no happy ending to "The Man who Broke the Bat" story-line.

But, in this new story and in real life there is still hope.

The new movie is called: The Dark Knight Rises. If Batman is to be anything like the Christ whom he is often paralleled with, he will rise after he falls. When the world is the darkest and all hope seems to be lost is when the plot twists. When it looks like the enemy has conquered at last by working through sin, death, the world, and us God often has one more surprise in store. The hero is able to come back stronger and more magnificent then ever before to bruise the enemies head.

Like Bane, Satan plots to beat God. He releases sin and uses it to work through God's creation in order to wear Him down and tire Him out. At Gethsemane, in the flesh, God would appear to be at one of his weakest points, Satan attacks him. Then the Devil (working through us) puts Him up on a cross as crowds cheer.

It is dark. It seems to be the end. Jesus Christ takes his final breath. But, there's more. The curtain of the temple is torn in two (uniting humanity with God in a way that has never been done before), the dead rise (foreshadowing our future resurrection), and the Holy Spirit presents faith.

Three days later, the Lord returns! Jesus comes back! His presence exclaims his triumph over sin, over death, and over Satan.

I hope that Batman is also able to come back with a presence to proclaim his triumph over his injury, thugs, and Bane.

Through Batman's fall and rise, he would save Gotham.

Through Christ's death and resurrection, he saves the world.

This has been part of the Dark Knight Series