Dave Bautista Talked To James Gunn About Playing Bane, But It's Not Happening

In a new interview, Dave Bautista says he's come to the realization that he will never play DC Comics villain Bane. Speaking with Insider, Bautista revealed that his campaign to play the character went as far as having official talks with director James Gunn, who is now overseeing the DC Universe at Warner Bros.

"I have had conversations with James about that," Bautista said, "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. I think for the DC Universe to be revived, you need to start from scratch, and I think you need to start with younger actors. 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."

Bautista added, "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. 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."

The actor spoke openly about his previous push to play the character at JusticeCon 2021, when he said he wanted to play Bane "so bad" that he made appointments with both Warner Bros. and DC. "I walked in the door, and said, 'I want to play Bane,'" Bautista said. "I'm not kidding. They were a little like, 'Woah, we're not even casting Bane.' I was like, 'I don't care, I'm playing him.'"

In October, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Gunn and producer Peter Safran would become co-CEOs and co-chairs of DC Studios. Since that time, there have been several reports of projects and characters getting completely revamped. The biggest and most public change so far in this regime change is that Henry Cavill will no longer be playing Superman.

Bautista's next film is director M. Night Shyamalan's Knock at the Cabin, which is due to hit theaters on February 3. In November last year, Bautista let the world know that he really really wants to be in Netflix's Gears of War movie.