It's no secret that Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista is keen to play Bane in the DC Extended Universe, but whether that's something Warner Bros. is actually considering is hard to say.
A comic book accurate take on the classic Batman villain is long overdue, especially after Batman and Robin's silly version underwhelmed and The Dark Knight Rises' delivered a very grounded interpretation.
Talking to Collider, Bautista shared his thoughts on what he'd most like to bring to the role.
"No discredit to Tom Hardy’s version of Bane, I love that performance, I loved that film. 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," the Army of the Dead star said. "Not only in performance, but also in physicality."
"I’d love that role where I’d have to go back up to 320 pounds just to play this character, like that it would happen," he continued. "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."
Comparing Bane to his Spectre villain Mr. Hinx, Bautista added: "[Bane] would not only be physically superior, he’d be mentally superior. I love the idea of the challenge of playing that character. I like when you can play a brute who’s not your predictable brute. Any big muscular guy can play the guy who is screaming, and growling, and yelling. But if you play a guy who is not only physically menacing but also soft-spoken, and even more terrifying when he’s speaking to you softly with a smile on his face, then that is a villain."
Bautista certainly seems to understand what makes a character like Bane tick, but it's hard to say where the villain could fit into the current DC Extended Universe. The Suicide Squad might have worked, but Bane wouldn't seem to be right for a movie like The Batman that's clearly very much based in reality.
Do you think the pro wrestler turned actor would make a good Bane in the DCEU?