Dave Bautista pitched playing Bane to Warner Bros. when they weren’t casting

I suppose Dave Bautista deserves an “A” for effort. The ARMY OF THE DEAD star is detailing a very aggressive pitch he once made to Warner Bros. to play the Batman villain Bane when they weren’t even casting for the role.

Bautista was speaking during Justice Con, the very same chat where he expressed taking on the DC character Lobo, and he recalls a good-humored pitch he made to Warner Bros. about bringing Bane to the big screen:

“Oh, it would be Bane all day long. I’ve made no secret about this. 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.”

Bautista seems to have specific goals for his career path. He has been very vocal in the past about what roles he wants to play and how he actually wants to be taken seriously as an actor, particularly because he comes from a wrestling background that may not earn him the respect of most actors. He has been very particular about the directors he wants to work with and at one point, when compared to fellow wrestler turned actors like Dwayne Johnson and John Cena, he made it clear that he didn’t want to do the same kind of films that they were known for. His no-nonsense and bullish approach for pursuing the Bane role comes as no surprise once you know exactly how Bautista works. For Bautista, the fact that he even gave it a shot and approached them with gusto is admirable. The actor goes on to say that while the studio execs probably thought he was joking, Bautista made it clear to them that he was not:

“I wasn’t joking. But in all honesty they did have a good giggle and show me the exit…At least I gave it a shot. My life seems to be a continuing mission to find an alternative route to get to where I want to be. I’m good with that.”

Bane has been brought to life in live-action form by Robert Swenson in 1997’s Batman & Robin, Tom Hardy in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, and Shane West during the final season of Fox’s Gotham. The character was created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan, making his debut in “Batman: Vengeance of Bane” #1 in January 1993. Bane is usually depicted as a dangerous adversary of Batman and possesses a mix of brute strength and exceptional intelligence. In comic book lore, Bane is often credited as the only villain to have “broken the bat”, both mentally and physically. Bane famously broke Batman’s back in “Batman” #497 in July 1993 and it’s a moment that has been incorporated in The Dark Knight Rises, Robot Chicken’s DC Comics Special, and alluded to many times in the DCAU.

Do YOU think Bautista would be a good candidate to play Bane in a future live-action adaptation?

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