British actor Tom Hardy , who plays Bane in next summer's The Dark Knight Rises , recently addressed fanboy concerns that he's just not big or bad enough to play the villain infamous in the comics for breaking Batman's back. Hardy asked fans to believe him when he promises that he'll be "the best that I can be. Just trust me. I trust [director Christopher] Nolan."

<b><center>Tom+Hardy+as+Bane+in+The+<output data-transform=

<a+class='autolink'+href='https://movies.ign.com/objects/142/14277134.html'>Bronson</a>

And yet some stubborn fanboys persist in only seeing that Hardy, as ripped as he is, still isn't a behemoth like the character he plays. So we'll justwhy Tom Hardy is not only a total badass onscreen, but also a great character actor who will kick ass as Bane. Here are five performances of his (all the films save for Warrior are available on video) that will convince any remaining doubters that he can break the Bat.Like Bane, Charles Bronson was a man who'd spent most of his life in prison, decades of it in solitary confinement. He's known as Britain's most violent prisoner, and Hardy's physical transformation into the musclebound monster is as storied as Christian Bale's weight loss regimens or Robert De Niro fattening up for Raging Bull. But it's the psychological underpinnings as well as his sheer physical ferocity that makes Bronson frightening and compelling.

Loading

Warrior

This mixed martial arts drama, sort of a Rocky for the UFC generation, opens Friday and showcases arguably Hardy's most physical role yet. Even more ripped than he was for Bronson, Hardy's Tommy is an Iraq War vet who returns home to Pittsburgh to take part in a MMA tournament, which will see him eventually facing off against his own brother. Hardy's brutish Tommy is a force of nature, demolishing opponent after opponent. If Bronson didn't convince you Hardy could kick ass with the best of them, then seeing him tune up brawlers in Warrior most certainly will.

Loading

<a+class='autolink'+href='https://tv.ign.com/objects/117/117408.html'>The+Take</a>

Tom Hardy shines in this 2009 British television miniseries as the sociopathic criminal Freddie Jackson, who is released from prison and begins his ascent in Brian Cox's criminal empire. Freddie, though, is too unstable and soon sees his cousin Jimmy rise instead of him. Freddie is malicious -- prone to rape, abuse, murder, and all sorts of scumbaggery -- yet has a soft spot for his kids. Hardy's multi-faceted portrayal of this powder keg of a human being won him critical raves on both sides of the pond.

<a+class='autolink'+href='https://movies.ign.com/objects/033/033903.html'>Star+Trek:+Nemesis</a>

I know what you're thinking. I don't like this movie and Tom Hardy was like 100 lbs. soaking wet in this, to which I'd remind you that Bane isn't just about brawn. He's a man whose psyche was formed by a lifetime of imprisonment and pain, a man who is every bit the physical and perhaps intellectual equivalent of The Batman. As Shinzon, Picard's flawed clone who was exiled by the Romulans to life on the slave labor planet Remus, Hardy plays a villain who is more cunning than physically imposing. It's those psychological scars from a lifetime of living in the shadows that's made Shinzon dangerous, a pain that Bane can relate to all too well.

<a+class='autolink'+href='https://tv.ign.com/objects/117/117402.html'>Oliver+Twist</a>

This 2007 miniseries cast Tom Hardy as Bill Sikes, a vicious criminal who beats his longtime prostitute girlfriend to death. Sikes is one of Charles Dickens' most vile characters, an almost irredeemable barbarian, and Hardy captures every ounce of Sikes' menace, yet plays him more as mentally unhinged lout than as out and out evil. That Hardy could find a way to humanize even this most notorious of literary characters suggests he'll similarly find human shadings in Bane as well and play him as more than just a dangerous brute.

Tom Hardy is an actor of range and great skill, and these five offerings are just a smattering of what he's done onscreen, but it is enough to whet your appetite for what he might bring to his next role as Batman's enemy.Batman Features We Need & Deserve