Lucasfilm Reportedly Eyeing Dave Bautista To Play Darth Bane

There are currently multiple Star Wars movies in development at Lucasfilm. The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson is still (theoretically) working on his trilogy, Thor: Ragnarok‘s Taika Waititi has his own film coming and Kevin Feige’s got some kind of project under development, too. But the exact details of what any of these will be about remains a mystery.

Now, however, we might have a clue as to when one of them will be set. And that’s because insider Daniel Richtman is claiming that the studio is considering Blade Runner 2049, Dune and Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista for the role of Darth Bane in a future project.

For those who don’t know, Darth Bane is a Sith Lord who lived a thousand years before the events of the Skywalker Saga and is primarily known for creating “the rule of two.” This commands that there should only be a master and apprentice Sith at any one time, with the apprentice inevitably betraying the master and continuing the cycle. Bane featured in various Star Wars novels and comics in the non-canon Legends continuity and still exists in the Disney era, having appeared on The Clone Wars as a ghost (voiced by Mark Hamill).

The character showing up in a movie would be confirmation that Lucasfilm and Disney plan to explore the deeper history of the franchise. It’s important to note that this won’t be a Knights of the Old Republic project, though, as that setting is about 4,000 years prior to the film series, nor is it part of the upcoming High Republic initiative, which is set a mere 200 years before The Phantom Menace.

Regardless, reworking Darth Bane’s story would give the writers a practically blank slate continuity-wise and it’d be fascinating to see some deep Sith lore and philosophy on the big screen. Perhaps Bautista’s Darth Bane could even be an antihero of sorts, showing him in conflict with the other Sith and their calcified institutions? Here’s hoping we hear more soon, as the Guardians of the Galaxy star would be extremely intimidating with a red lightsaber in his hands.