Despite his efforts, Dave Bautista has come to the realization that he will never play DC Comics villain Bane.
That was confirmed, he said, in conversations with his "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn, who is now overseeing the DC universe at Warner Bros.
"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," the actor told Insider over the weekend while doing press for his upcoming movie, "Knock at the Cabin."
UPDATE: Bautista's publicist Danica Smith later clarified the timeline of these conversations to Insider on Monday night. "James Gunn has spoken to Dave about playing Bane in the last 10 years, but not since James has taken on his role at DC," she told Insider.
"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," Bautista, 54, continued. "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. 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."
Back in 2021, Bautista revealed that he put Warner Bros. on notice that he wanted to be the next actor to play the beefed-up nemesis of Batman.
"I've made no secret about this," the star revealed at JusticeCon (via Collider). "I want to play Bane so bad 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. They were a little like, 'Woah, we're not even casting Bane.' I was like, 'I don't care, I'm playing him.'"
Obviously, things have changed in a major way over at Warner Bros. and DC Studios.
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 from the previous regime getting completely revamped, the biggest being Henry Cavill no longer playing Superman.
The last time we saw Bane on screen was in Christopher Nolan's 2012 "The Dark Knight Rises." Tom Hardy took on the role of the masked man who enjoys breaking the back of Batman, a role that Nolan said hasn't been "fully appreciated" yet.
Gunn, who is best known for directing the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise for Disney/Marvel, which Bautista also stars in as Drax the Destroyer, also helmed "The Suicide Squad" in 2021 for Warner Bros./DC.
"Our initial focus is on the story going forward, hammering out the new DCU, & telling the Biggest Story Ever Told across multiple films, television shows, & animated projects," Gunn tweeted in November about the focus of the studio going forward.
