Last month, Warner Bros. Pictures officially announced that Tom Hardy (Inception, Warrior) had been set to play Bane in director Christopher Nolan‘s forthcoming, final entry in his Bat-Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Hardy will star alongside Christian Bale, who returns in the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle.

Hardy recently appeared on the UK’s Channel 4 talk show Alan Carr: Chatty Man, and spoke about playing Bane. The actor stated that this version of Bane will be much more menacing than the version in director Joel Schumacher‘s much derided Batman & Robin film.

Check out the video or transcript below to see what Hardy had to say.

Tom Hardy talks Bane & The Dark Knight Rises

via Batman-News.com

Hardy said,

“Have you seen the Joel Schumacher Batman & Robin? He [Bane] doesn’t look very menacing does he?

When asked if he’d be wearing Bane’s gimp-style luchadore mask – Hardy said,

“Only if I feel like it!”

He continued:

“Chris Nolan will revisit that territory entirely so I wouldn’t go by that at all. I’m going to need to bulk up a lot for it. That’s a lot of weight to put on and I’ve got to start shooting in May. I’ve got to go up to about 13 or 14 stone. I’m 12 and a bit now, so I only have a few months to do that.”

Christopher Nolan will direct the film from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jonathan Nolan, from a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Goyer will also produce the film with Charles Roven and Nolan’s longtime producing partner, Emma Thomas.

The Dark Knight Rises is slated to hit theaters on July 20th, 2012.