Dave Bautista looks like an action hero, is built like an action hero and regularly finds himself cast as an action hero, but he’s made it pretty clear that’s not how he wants to see himself remembered. The former professional wrestler has even been known to publicly blast his former in-ring rivals Dwayne Johnson and John Cena for their perceived lack of talent and/or ambition, while he tries to carve out his own niche.
As a huge jacked dude, action-orientated roles will obviously be the first ones to come across his desk, and it’s not as if he shies away from them, but Bautista has also shown impressive dramatic range and versatility in a number of projects in other genres including sci-fi Blade Runner 2049, dystopian thriller Bushwick, noir crime story Hotel Artemis, buddy cop comedy Stuber and family film My Spy, while he’s got intergalactic epic Dune arriving later this year.
Of course, Bautista can currently be seen headlining a big budget action blockbuster in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, and we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us Netflix were developing a prequel to The Witcher long before Blood Origin was officially announced – that the streaming service is keen to reunite with the 52 year-old on a number of potential future collaborations and want to sign him to a big deal.
Dave Bautista has recently moved into producing through his Dream Bros Entertainment banner, so he’d surely be interested in the increased levels of creative freedom that Netflix can offer. However, he’s a very busy man with high concept sci-fi Universe’s Most Wanted, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Paul W.S. Anderson’s In the Lost Lands all on the horizon. As such, it could be a while before he stars in his next streaming exclusive, whether it’s under this new deal or not.
