Prolific Batman writer Chuck Dixon and the creator of Batman villain Bane alongside Graham Nolan recently revealed that DC Comics editorial wanted to change the villain’s name.
In his most recent Ask Chuck Dixon video, Dixon was asked a question by Barry Mitchell, “If you wouldn’t have come up with the name Bane. What else would have called the character?’
Dixon responded, “I have no idea. As I’ve said before Bane’s working name before we knew anything about me, or before we knew much about him was Doc Toxic. And that’s the name that would show up in the whiteboards and in our outline notes as we were getting into Knightfall.”
Related: Bane Creator Chuck Dixon Explains Why Current Writers Can’t Tell Good Superman Stories
He reiterated, “I don’t know what I would have called him.”
Dixon then details how superhero and villain names were being made in the early 90s. He explained, “At the time it was really popular to combine names. You had Deathwolf and things like that. They would just take two words and slam them together until I think Rob Liefeld used all those combinations and there weren’t any left.”
“I was determined not to name him that kind of Image character kind of name. So, I went to the thesaurus and looked up evil and there were a whole bunch of words synonymous with evil. And I picked out Bane,” he continued.
Dixon then added, “Which as I’ve told you before in previous videos, the editors hated that name and told me they would come up with something better. Well, they never did and within three days everybody was just calling him Bane.”
He then circled back to the original question and stated, “So yeah, I don’t know. I really didn’t have any second choices. I landed on Bane and said that’s the one. And lucky me I didn’t come up with some dumbass name that everybody would forget.”
In the video Dixon also discusses how Marvel Comics rejected his and Graham Nolan’s pitch for an anti-Communist Captain America to rehabilitate the 1950s Captain America that was maligned by Marvel Comics in the 70s.
Related: Chuck Dixon Reveals Marvel Comics Rejected His Pitch For An Anti-Communist Captain America
He also goes on to discuss his ongoing Levon Cade novel series, which is being adapted into a live-action series by Sylvester Stallone. He detailed he’s read a number of the scripts and even revealed who he imagines playing Cade.
Spoiler alert, the answer is The Fast and The Furious Tokyo Drift’s Lucas Black.
Dixon explained, “He’s got this kind of Steve McQueen physicality. He’s a guy who looks like he’s capable in any situation of handling anything. He looks at home behind any car, with any gun, with any motorcycle, things like that. That kind of Steve McQueen vibe of a guy who knows what he’s doing.”
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“The other plus is, he’s got the accent. He’s got that Alabama southern drawl that is his natural speaking voice. And I think he’d be awesome. He’s the perfect age to play Levon Cade. He’s in his mid 30s, mid to late 30s and right in the zone.”
Dixon would also go on to explain he would cast Nick Nolte as Uncle Fern.
While Dixon isn’t doing his Ask Chuck Dixon series, he’s still writing comic books.
Related: Batman Scribe Chuck Dixon and Brett R. Smith Reveal First Look At Blood: Graphic Novel
Dixon has multiple projects being crowdfunded on IndieGoGo including Impossible Stars alongside writer Richard Meyer and artist Renzo Rodriguez.
He’s also adapting John Ringo’s Black Tide Rising into a graphic novel.
Dixon is also working with Richard Meyer and Graham Nolan on The Expendables Go To Hell.
Related: Chuck Dixon Launches Patreon To Produce Creator Owned Content Under Arkhaven Comics
Outside of IndieGoGo projects, he’s collaborating with Vox Day’s Arkhaven Comics, where the two have launched a Patreon account for various comic initiatives for Webtoons as well as a “commitment to produce a lot of creator owned material for Arkhaven.”
He also has Blood: The Graphic Novel coming out on Amazon on October 20th. It’s currently available to pre-order.
What do you make of the fact that DC Comics editorial wanting to change Bane’s name?