Dave Bautista drops Bane’s DC role after final chat with ‘Guardians’ contributor James Gunn

Legendary DC villain Bane, best known for breaking Batman’s back, remains Dave Bautista’s go-to character.

The wrestler-turned-actor revealed in an interview with Insider published Monday that he approached James Gunn about the prospect of playing Bane after him protector of the universe Rise from director to co-CEO and co-chairman of DC Studios.

“I’ve talked to James about it,” Bautista said, “but I think the direction he’s leaning toward completely rebooting the entire universe, he’s starting over … and I think you should.”

Bautista went on to say that if DC wants to be revived, Gunn and co-CEO/co-chairman Peter Safran will have to “start from scratch” — reshaping the cinematic universe with young talent at the forefront. “You have to start planning for the next 15 years and I don’t think you can do that with me. And I understand that,” said the actor. “And I also have to say that I appreciate it because I don’t want to play a role that I can’t live up to. I don’t think I can do it, I just don’t know if I can handle the physical part and I don’t think I’ll have the longevity to plan films ahead of time, so I just don’t know if I’d be this one guy

Bautista has been singing on Twitter for years about his desire to play Bane – who was last played by Tom Hardy in Christopher Nolan’s 2012 hit. The dark knight stood up. His campaign for the character last made headlines in 2021, when he revealed he had reached out to higher-ups at Warner Bros about the idea. “I made no secret of it,” the actor said during an appearance at Justice Con, reported by Collider . “I want to play Bane so badly that I went to Warner Bros., had an appointment with them, had an appointment with DC, walked in the door and said, ‘I want to play Bane.’ I’m not kidding.”

The actor admitted that those he spoke to “were kind of like, ‘Woah, we’re not even casting Bane,'” though he added that even that fact doesn’t deter him from his goal. “I was like, ‘I don’t care, I’m playing with him,'” he said at the time.

Bautista previously teamed up with new DC boss Gunn on three protector of the universe Movies – as well as one Holiday Special – Portrayal of larger than life mercenary Drax the Destroyer. The last movie in the series Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3Release is scheduled for May 5.

While Bautista admitted he was eager to join DC, in a recent interview with GQ he said it was a “relief” to leave the Marvel superhero universe behind as he tries to build his reputation build as more serious actors. “[Working on Guardians] wasn’t all funny. It was difficult to play that role,” he said. “I was amazed by the makeup process. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy – it’s a silly achievement and I want to do more dramatic things.

Bautista recently starred alongside Daniel Craig and many others in Rian Johnson’s acclaimed film knife out continuation glass onion for Netflix, which is nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He will next star in M. Night Shyamalan’s horror thriller Knock on the hutwhich will be released on Friday 3rd February. One of the actor’s other upcoming projects is that of Denis Villeneuve Dune: part twowhich hits theaters on November 3.