Dave Bautista may have given up on his dreams of Bane, but he still wants in on James Gunn’s DCU

It must have been tough for Dave Bautista to admit that he won’t be fulfilling of dreams of playing Bane in James Gunn’s brave new era for the DCU, but time catches up to everyone eventually.

Even though it’s been a dream of his to play the hulking Batman villain, at 54 years old, the Guardians of the Galaxy star doesn’t think he’s got enough left in the tank to take on another physically-demanding role that would occupy years of his life. In addition, he offered that Gunn is planning to go “younger and fresher,” which would instantly rule him out.

However, in an interview with ComicBook in support of M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming psychological chiller Knock at the Cabin, Bautista revealed that while he didn’t want to be “that guy” and immediately pitch one of his friends for a job as soon as he took the reins, he wasn’t hesitant in exclaiming that he’d “love to be a part of the DC Universe.”

As chance would have it, the Peacemaker creator has already shouted from the rooftops that he’d love to find roles for all of his Marvel Cinematic Universe regulars in the DCU, so plenty of doors are about to be opened. Bane might have been thrown out of the window, but Hugo Strange has already emerged as potential fallback option, and Bautista would certainly fit the part.

The speculation is about to increase tenfold anyway, seeing as the first batch of announcements are guaranteed to be made before the end of tomorrow.