Though he could always have a change of heart down the line, Dave Bautista has made it clear that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marked his final turn as Drax in the MCU, and the actor has now set his sights on jumping ship to the DC Universe.
Bautista has expressed interest in playing a new take on Batman villain Bane several times in the past (and even asked Warner Bros. directly if there was any chance he could play the part), but now feels like he may be too old to take on that particular role.
"For forever, it was Bane," the former WWE Champion told Screen Rant when asked which character he could see himself playing in the DCU. "When I was younger, I wanted to play Bane; it was like a dream role for me. And I got to a point in my career where I just felt like I was just too old to play Bane. I think the physicality of it, at this point in my career and my life, I just wouldn't be able to do the character justice.
And then I saw somewhere online that someone posted something of me playing Lex Luthor; an older Lex Luthor. I kind of became obsessed with that idea. Obviously, they moved on from that idea, so at this point, I'm struggling to find my place in the DC universe. But I'd really be up for anything."
Nicholas Hoult will debut as Luthor in James Gunn's Superman, but there's nothing to say Bautista couldn't play an older version of the villain in a future Elseworlds project.
The only DCU Batman project currently in the works (that we know of) is The Brave and The Bold. We haven't heard any rumors about Bane being involved, but the character could quite easily be introduced as a physical threat for the Dark Knight and his son.
There are plenty of other heroes and villains that Bautista could play, of course. Gunn recently revealed that he would "love" to work with his friend again in the DCU, asking fans to send their character suggestions to Threads. The most popular picks - aside from Bane - included Hugo Strange, Darkseid, Kilowog, Mr. Freeze, and Atrocitus.
We'd say it's only a matter of time before Gunn enlists Bautista for a DCU role, but which character would you most like to see him play? Let us know in the comments section down below.