"That's cold and dark and sinister" — When Tom Hardy opened up about how hard it was to create iconic voices for Venom and Bane

In 2024, the Venom: The Last Dance cast, including Tom Hardy and director Kelly Marcel, appeared in an interview with Emmy winner Jake Hamilton. The interview was posted on October 21, 2024, on the official Jake's Takes YouTube Channel, known for posting promotional content and interviews related to Hollywood.

In the interview, Tom was asked to explain the process behind modulating his voice for different characters. Jake specifically inquired about his process of finding the voice for the role of Venom and Bane, and how they compared with each other. Tom portrayed Bane in Christopher Nolan's final film of the Batman trilogy, titled The Dark Knight Rises.

Tom Hardy began his answer with an explanation of how he worked out his voice for Venom.

"Venom I had already [found the voice] because I used that voice for my dog, when I'm doing impressions of my dog talking to...me. yeah, like at home. Sort of a variant on that and that's kind of a mixture of Busta Rhymes, and Method Man, and James Brown, a little bit of Richard Burton and there's a sort of stoicism as well," explained Tom.

He also added that Venom's voice was influenced by his love for old-school hip-hop songs.

"I'm a big hip-hop fan, so those Busta Rhymes would be the most emphatic kind of sound from the old school type quest or Dragon type scenario. That's absolutely perfect," continued Tom.

He continued to explain how different it was to create Bane's voice for multiple reasons. The biggest to begin with was the portrayal of the Joker by Heath Ledger, which was praised by critics and fans alike. Tom Hardy knew that to be successful in this role, he had to risk something.

"Okay, do I do a generic baddy voice an arch voice I can calculate and create something that's cold and dark and sinister with no light no color no fun or you know we're going to you know Bane is Bane is Latin X technically so I had to look at that option and think what's similar you know how can I justify this you know," Tom began to explain his process.

Tom drew inspiration from a Gypsy bare-knuckle fighter named Bartley Gorman, who had a mellifluous accent. The actor further said that he shared the hymns sung by Bartley with Nolan and explained that this risk regarding the voice could go either way, but they have to be different.

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Tom Hardy's career so far

Edward Thomas Hardy, also known as Tom Hardy, is an English-born actor who made his film debut in Ridley Scott's war movie, Black Hawk Down, in 2001. Ever since his debut, Tom has appeared on numerous projects and received several awards and nominations.

In 2010, Tom attracted attention early in his career, which led to him working on the first of three projects with Christopher Nolan, starring as Eames in Inception. Both were reunited in Nolan's final film of the Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Tom Hardy starred in the movie as the villain Bane opposite Christian Bale.

He grew extremely popular for his portrayal of the DC Comics villain, especially for the unique, unsettling voice used. He also received positive feedback from critics for his take on the character. This also led to Tom featuring as the popular antihero protagonist from the Spider-Man universe, called Venom, in the Venom trilogy.

His first appearance as Eddie Brock, the man possessed by a symbiote that turns him into Venom, was in the 2018 film Venom. Tom also worked on two more sequels: Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Venom: The Last Dance. Although the trilogy remains unpopular among critics, fans received it well, especially for Tom's voice-over and portrayal of Venom.

Tom made his television debut in the HBO series Band of Brothers as US Army Private John Janovec. He is well known for starring as Alfie Solomon in Netflix's Peaky Blinders. Currently, Tom Hardy features in Guy Ritchie's Mobland as Harry Da Souza, a fixer for the Harrigans. The series premiered on March 30, 2025, on Paramount+, with new episodes releasing every Sunday.

His other prominent projects include Mad Max: Fury Road, Layer Cake, RocknRolla, and Warrior.

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Will Tom Hardy's Venom or Bane ever make a return to the big screen?

A Bane costume from the 2012 Dark Knight Rises film worn by Tom Hardy and designed by Lindy Heming is on display at the DC Comics Exhibition: Dawn Of Super Heroes at the O2 Arena on February 22, 2018, in London, England. (Image via Getty)

For the viewers who are wondering if Tom Hardy will ever make a return as these characters, the answer seems to be no. In an interview with comicbook.com in April 2025, Tom Hardy confirmed it is the end of his days as Venom in the Sony Spider-Man Universe.

“No, no, I love Venom and I had a great time doing that, so no, no.” Tom said ending possible rumours.

On the other hand, the Batman Universe was rebooted with Matt Reeves directing and writing the new film series and starring Robert Pattinson as Bruce Wayne. The first film, titled The Batman, was released in 2022 and featured the Riddler as the villain. With the sequel still in works, no news has yet been revealed on the villain to be featured.

Additionally, the Hollywood Reporter reported in September 2024 on a possible movie featuring a team-up between Bane and Deathstroke. No confirmation was provided by either James Gunn or DC Studios. However, an Entertainment Tonight journalist approached Tom with the question in October 2024, when he was promoting the final movie in the Venom film series. Expressing his love for the role, but also stating that it might be time for someone else to reprise the role, Tom replied:

“Oh, hell yeah. I’d love to. I don’t know if that’s for me. I did my run, you know, let somebody else have a go.”

Tom Hardy remains a prominent figure in Hollywood and has also been rewarded with several awards and nominations. Tom received the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2011 for his role as Eames in Inception. He has also received two British Independent Film Awards and a Critics' Choice Movie Award.

Tom was appointed as Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

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Stay tuned for further updates on Tom Hardy and his upcoming projects.