The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is one of the favorites for the fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially because of its unique characters. Drax the Destroyer played by Dave Bautista has been a fan favorite Guardian with his nonchalantly hilarious dialogues.
However, there is one more character in the world of superheroes and supervillains that Dave Bautista would’ve loved to play at least once in his career – Bane. Bane is one of the most iconic supervillains in the superhero universe and it sure would have been quite interesting to see Dave Bautista have a go at it. But now, it seems like he had a shift of heart as he no longer sees himself standing in Bane’s shoes. Now is the reason his age, like he says, or is it something more?
Dave Bautista Says Goodbye to his Bane Dream
Back in 2021, Dave Bautista stated that Bane was one of the characters he had latched onto and would love to have “a crack at it”. His vision for Bane was that he would play the supervillain in such a way that’s evil and extremely intelligent.
“I’d just love a crack at it. I think I could bring an interesting twist to it and I think I could do the character justice. Not only in performance, but also in physicality. I could…play Bane in a way that’s not only menacing and ominous but also freakishly intelligent. Bane would be the type of character that’s so menacing and so terrifying and so intelligent, he would hardly ever raise his voice.”
It sure looks like Bane was on Bautista’s “to-do list” for a long time. So what happened that made him change his mind all of a sudden? Talking to Insider, Bautista stated that he spoke to James Gunn about his desire to play Bane in the DC Universe. However, he added that the decision Gunn has taken to restart the DCU younger and fresher has the actor’s full support. He then added that for DCU to be revived, the superhero universe must start from scratch, just like Gunn’s plans have shown us so far. He then stated that he doesn’t have it in him anymore to be able to contribute to the next fifteen years of his life to the DCU. Bautista believes that he cannot promise the longevity needed to play Bane.
“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. 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. 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.”
It’s worth noting that as clarified by Bautista’s publicist, the conversations between Gunn and the actor about playing Bane took place before the former was appointed as the new co-head of the DC Studios, along with Peter Safran. We wonder if it really was a longevity issue that deterred Bautista from playing Bane or if was it his disappointment with how Drax turned out to be under Gunn’s leadership.
Dave Bautista Disappointed with his GOTG Role
Drax the Destroyer seems quite a bit of a letdown when it comes to his powers as compared to his version in the Marvel comics. While this is fine considering the bigger picture but when just Drax is considered, the character has been severely downplayed. In order to not diminish the powers of the other Guardians, one could say that Drax was reduced to a kind of comedic relief in the films. Bautista seems to agree.
In an interview with GQ, Bautista stated that while he loves the character, he does not want it to be his legacy, terming it a “silly performance.”
“I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy – it’s a silly performance and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”
It looks like Gunn’s idea for MCU Drax was different that what Bautista would have liked. With the filmmaker now ready to lead DCU into a new era, maybe Bautista just isn’t sure about playing a character he so badly wanted to, anymore.
Guardians of the Galaxy is available to watch on Disney+.
Source: Insider
