Frenzy over The Dark Knight Rises hits a fever pitch in more ways than one, as Rush Limbaugh says it's no accident that the villain in the film has the same name as Mitt Romney's venture capital firm. INSIDE EDITION has the scoop.
The new Batman blockbuster is now at the center of a political firestorm.
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh sees a Hollywood conspiracy because the supervillain in The Dark Knight Rises is named Bane, while President Obama has been non-stop criticizing Mitt Romney's old venture capital company, Bain.
Limbaugh said on his radio show, "Do you think that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious, fire-breathing, four-eyed, whatever-it-is villain in this movie is named Bane?"
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow had this sarcastic response to Limbaugh's conspiracy theory:
"The villains in Batman were pre-named decades in advance in anticipation of a 2012 presidential election in which one of the candidates would have a contested affiliation with a company named Bain."
On The View, Whoopi Goldberg could barely contain herself, saying, "It's like when they said the Teletubbies were gay a few years back. It's Batman, fool."
The supervillain Bane first appeared in 1993, nearly two decades ago, and before Mitt Romney was ever a candidate for national political office.
Bane is out to destroy Batman, but at Manhattan Comics, they say there's not a political bone in his supervillain body.
Robert Conte, owner of manhattancomics.com told INSIDE EDITION, "To have him mixed in with this political agenda just doesn't make sense."
And INSIDE EDITION found this isn't even the first time Bane has appeared in a Batman movie.
He appeared in 1997's Batman and Robin, starring George Clooney as Batman.
The Dark Knight Rises opens Friday, and is already being called a "Smash!" on the front page of the New York Post.
The movie does have strong political overtones. There's an attack on the super rich, and a battle in front of the stock exchange that bears a striking resemblance to the Occupy Wall Street movement.
In one scene, Anne Hathaway's character, Catwoman says, "You're all going to wonder how you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us."
