Dwayne Johnson may have the market well and truly cornered in terms of sheer fame and visibility given his status as the biggest movie star on the planet, but there’s been an uptick recently in the number of current and former professional wrestlers trying their hand at the acting game.
WWE star The Big Show headlines his own comedy show on Netflix and has thrown his hat into the ring when it comes time for the MCU to reboot Kingpin, fellow grappler Sasha Banks is rumored to be playing fan favorite Star Wars character Sabine Wren in the second season of The Mandalorian, John Cena continues his ascent up the Hollywood totem pole with major roles in blockbuster sequels Fast & Furious 9 and The Suicide Squad, and Dave Bautista will keep himself occupied until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 gets the green light by starring in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune remake and Zack Snyder’s Netflix zombie heist movie Army of the Dead.
It seems par for the course for wrestlers-turned-actors to sign on to a major franchise, and despite already being part of the MCU, Bautista confirmed that he was in talks at one stage to re-team with James Gunn for The Suicide Squad, as well as being linked to Bane in Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
In a recent exchange with a fan on social media, the Blade Runner 2049 star debunked the rumor that he was in the movie, but did appear to admit that he’d at least tried to make it happen.
Unfortunately it’s not. Tried my best🤷🏻♂️ https://t.co/Dfn6UGzzlb
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 31, 2020
There’s already said to be more than enough villains to keep Robert Pattinson occupied in The Batman, and we’ve also already seen how it turns out when the Caped Crusader has too many foes to deal with in his movies, but the possibility of Bautista showing up as Bane at some point in Reeves’ proposed trilogy shouldn’t be discounted just yet, as there’s no denying that the 51 year-old would be a solid choice for the role.
