Tom Hardy Revives His Bane Voice on New Joint Czarface Album

Under his Frankie Pulitzer alias, Tom Hardy has teamed with Czarface — the underground rap group made up of Wu-Tang Clan’s Inspectah Deck and duo 7L & Esoteric — for the full-length Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, released Friday. The 15-track album also features Busta Rhymes, Method Man, El-P, and Kendra Morris. Hardy has been orbiting Czarface for years, first appearing with the group on music tied to Venom: Let There Be Carnage before popping up again on later releases, including 2024’s “Knull & Void” with Method Man. This time, though, Frankie Pulitzer isn’t a cameo — he’s shining on the whole record. Buy Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer The album leans heavily into the comic-book and movie vibes that make the pairing make sense initially. On “Raw Forever,” Hardy drops references to Green Goblin, Doctor Doom, Dog Day Afternoon, and Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead, while other tracks explore everything from Stephen King to Titanic. The most Tom Hardy moment, however, comes on “Grim-Visaged War.” At the 1:33 mark after a slick final rhyme by Czarface, Hardy recites the speech “Now is the winter of our discontent” from Shakespeare’s Richard III in the same hulking,...