The statistics have apparently shown that if you want to make it in Hollywood as a wrestler-turned-actor, then you have to hit certain requirements, which include joining a blockbuster action sequel and signing a multi-picture contract to star in a comic book franchise.
While Dwayne Johnson and John Cena both fulfilled that obligation by boarding the Fast & Furious series and the DCEU as Black Adam and Peacemaker respectively, Dave Bautista is intent to forge his own path. In fact, he’s even publicly blasted Johnson’s acting abilities and laughed off suggestions that he could co-star with Cena one day, such is his intent to distance himself from his former in-ring rivals.
He is a key part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Guardians of the Galaxy and played a James Bond villain’s henchman in Spectre, though, so the two aforementioned boxes have at least been ticked career-wise. Bautista came close to reuniting with James Gunn on The Suicide Squad as well, and in a new interview, the Army of the Dead star named the two DC characters he’s desperate to play.
“It would be Bane, all day long. I made no secret about this. I wanna play Bane so bad. I want to play Bane so bad that I went to Warner Bros., had an appointment with them, had an appointment with DC, walked in the door and said, ‘I wanna play Bane!’. They were a little like, ‘Whoa! Whoa. We’re not even casting Bane’. I’m like, ‘I don’t care! I’m playing him!’. They were like, ‘Well…’. But it’d be that. Otherwise, I would really take a look at Lobo. I’d really be interested in what somebody can do with Lobo. I’d be all over that.”
You have to admire the thought of Bautista going into a meeting with Warner Bros. and telling them he wants the role of Bane, even though the meeting was about something else entirely, and it might yet happen after DC Films president Walter Hamada outlined plans for two separate Batman franchises moving forward, as there’s now twice as much scope for the villain to show up.
As for Lobo, it was first announced over a decade ago, but we haven’t heard anything regarding the project since Michael Bay was circling a couple of years back, although if it gets resurrected, then Dave Bautista should be one of the first names on the list.
