Dave Bautista Isn’t Hearing Much About James Gunn’s DCU Plans After Playing Peacemaker And Then Bane Never Materialized
James Gunn has a habit of calling up actors he has worked with in the past, which motivated many of his casting choices in Superman and the DCU. This almost allowed for Dave Bautista, Drax in the MCU, thanks to Gunn, to wear Peacemaker’s helmet in The Suicide Squad, and perhaps beyond.
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Though the role was written for him at conception, interestingly enough, Bautista had to pass on the role. The reason why, coincidentally, brings Zack Snyder (the guy Gunn replaced) into the picture again as he was knee-deep in his first post-DC passion project.
Army of the Dead took Snyder back to his roots with bloodthirsty zombies while also taking up the precious time of the retired wrestler, Bautista. Ultimately, it was the commitment to the lead in Snyder’s Army that made Peacemaker and that ‘suicide mission’ a no-go, which was bittersweet for ‘Big Dave’.
“I have to say, that one. I really wanted to do that part. He [Gunn] wrote that part for me, and it was meant for me, and it just became a scheduling thing where I just couldn’t do it, because I was doing Army of the Dead,” he explained to ComicBook.com. “And so it was a scheduling issue that we just could not figure out.”
However, he believes it worked out for the best when his old rival, John Cena, got the part and ran with it. “And I think it was great. It was a blessing in disguise that I didn’t do that, because I have to say, I have to be honest, there’s no way that I would have been able to do that role like John. He’s just perfect for it, you know, and I wouldn’t have done it justice, and it wouldn’t have been as successful,” Bautista said.
“So, look, and I am, I’m saying that with a bit of envy, you know, I would love it,” he added. “I just wouldn’t have been able to do the same thing that John does to bring to that character. It wouldn’t have been the same. It wouldn’t have been as good. I can honestly say it wouldn’t have been as good.”
Regardless, one would think the Superstar’s entrance into the DCU was academic, but in a swerve, it’s Bautista who has to keep that dream alive for the most part. As he told Screen Rant in another interview recently, he “checks in” all the time yet finds again and again that, like the saying within WWE goes, ‘creative has nothing for him’.
“I haven’t. You know, I check back with them all the time to see, because I want to be in that world. And I don’t want to say I’m disappointed, but I was really just, you know, I was hoping a year or so ago that I would’ve gotten the call from James saying, ‘Hey man, we got something for you,’” he said.
“I just keep hearing kind of through the pipeline that they’re thinking about me for something, but I don’t know what it is. And I haven’t heard directly from either James or Peter. But I really want to be in that room, you know, I was hoping to go over there and do something with them, but I haven’t heard anything. And I’m not getting younger,” the actor continued.
His age might be the problem, as it was a contributing factor in why Bane escaped the old Animal’s grasp. “I have had conversations with James about that, but I think the direction he’s leaning in, completely rebooting that whole universe, he’s starting from scratch and starting younger and fresher, and I think you need to do that,” Bautista told Business Insider in 2023.
“You need to start to plan for the next 15 years, and I just don’t think you can do that with me. And I understand that. And, also, I have to say that I appreciate that because I don’t want to play a character that I can’t bring justice to it. I don’t think at this point in my career that I can bring justice to Bane anymore,” he said.
“I just don’t know if I could handle the physical part, and I don’t think I would have the longevity to plan ahead for films. So, I just don’t know if I’d be that guy,” the actor continued.
