ARMY OF THE DEAD: Dave Bautista Turned Down Role In THE SUICIDE SQUAD To Star In Zack Snyder's Zombie Movie

ARMY OF THE DEAD: Dave Bautista Turned Down Role In THE SUICIDE SQUAD To Star In Zack Snyder's Zombie Movie

Guardians of the Galaxy actor Dave Bautista reveals that he turned down a role in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad to star in Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead, but says he was initially reluctant to do so.

By JoshWilding - Jan 07, 2021 02:01 AM EST
Filed Under: Horror
Source: Entertainment Weekly

When James Gunn first started assembling The Suicide Squad's cast, there were rumblings that he wanted Dave Bautista (who plays Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy) to take on a role. That never happened, and during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actor has finally revealed why.

According to the site, Bautista told them that he willingly gave up a part in the DC Comics adaptation in order to star in Zack Snyder's upcoming zombie movie, Netflix's Army of the Dead.

However, he wasn't initially on board with the project.

"I said I wasn't interested," Bautista reveals, reflecting on first being offered a role in Army of the Dead. "I had this chip on my shoulder and was looking for juicy [dramatic roles]. Then I read the script and it was a lot deeper and had more layers than I thought. And also, to be quite frank, I wanted to work with Zack."

Bautista went on to say, "We're running around killing zombies on craps tables. It's just a ton of fun." 

Snyder has been so busy hyping up his cut of Justice League that we've not really seen much from Army of the Dead, but it appears that's finally beginning to change. The movie is set to hit Netflix later this year, and production recently wrapped on the prequel (Bautista is also set to take on the lead role in an anime spinoff). 

Are you excited for Army of the Dead?

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Tpo81
Tpo81 - 1/7/2021, 2:43 AM
“A lot deeper,more layers”
Next sentence:We’re running around killing zombies on craps tables”
Lol he’s awesome
RolandD
RolandD - 1/7/2021, 10:30 AM
@Tpo81 - Well, I guess I should have known someone might have already pointed out the discrepancies in those two sentences. LOL Should have gone with SS and Gunn, IMHO.
Tpo81
Tpo81 - 1/7/2021, 9:23 PM
@RolandD - agreed,can’t go wrong with Gunn & a team comic book story
dracula
dracula - 1/7/2021, 2:48 AM
Your loss Bautista (unless it was as a member who dies). If he is ever done playing Drax , I could see him as Lobo
Repian
Repian - 1/7/2021, 3:28 AM
@dracula -
Darth258
Darth258 - 1/7/2021, 3:47 AM
@dracula - I think he'd make a good Bane.
GothamSon
GothamSon - 1/7/2021, 4:20 AM
@Darth258 - After Hardy, I want to see an actor play regular Bane, but Bane on venom should be CGI. Bane should be GIANT.
Repian
Repian - 1/7/2021, 7:27 AM
@GothamSon - Edgar Ramírez
Darth258
Darth258 - 1/7/2021, 12:51 PM
@GothamSon - Oh, regular comicbook Bane is what i want too, but he doesn't necessairly need to be a freak like in the Arkham series after origins. Could be something like this, maybe still juiced up with cgi with venom but maybe made taller in a similar way Gandalf was taller than the hobbits in LOTR.



The one from Origins, tactical genius + venom would be my ideal Bane.
GothamSon
GothamSon - 1/8/2021, 6:31 AM
@Darth258 - Yeah that's a good comparison, Peter Jackson used 'forced perspective' shooting to make characters look like different heights.

Same with Killer Croc. The makeup effects in Suicide Sqaud were realistic, but that Croc was waaay shorter than he was meant to be.
Darth258
Darth258 - 1/8/2021, 3:45 PM
@GothamSon - Yeah, that short Croc really bugged me, considering Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje looked like a big guy in Lost.

Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 1/7/2021, 2:50 AM
I dunno if cbm.com can handle all this Zack Snyder praise, fam.

Matter of fact, gotta post:
SW_stormtrooper_traitor.gif
:3
RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 1/7/2021, 3:05 AM
I wonder why?

RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 1/7/2021, 3:09 AM
@RegularPoochie - Also don't get me wrong, SS looks good, but this tells alot.
Blergh
Blergh - 1/7/2021, 3:12 AM
Interesting, seems Zack convinced him.
We'll see how that movie turns out, I have zero trust in Zacks storytelling prowess but hope for the best
Superheromoviefan
Superheromoviefan - 1/7/2021, 3:16 AM
big mistake.
snyder best work is mediocre.
the most work is bad
Kurne
Kurne - 1/7/2021, 3:25 AM
I think it's better for his resume that he didn't do another CBM role. I mean, zombie action movie isn't too far off lol, but still.
TheClungerine
TheClungerine - 1/7/2021, 3:52 AM
Seems like people in the business really like Zack. 🤣
RolandD
RolandD - 1/7/2021, 10:33 AM
@DaClungerlorian - If he could tell good stories, Snyder would have it made.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 1/7/2021, 3:53 AM
That Netflix money enticed him, and I bet it was a limited role for SS
inkniron
inkniron - 1/7/2021, 4:16 AM
@bobevanz -
KingswoodChrome
KingswoodChrome - 1/7/2021, 5:40 AM
Dawn of the Dead is his best film for sure, solid fun film, really hoping Army is good it's got potential and I'm excited to see it, hopefully we get a trailer soon
soberchimera
soberchimera - 1/7/2021, 6:46 AM
Sorta OT: watched Romero's Day of the Dead out of curiosity the other day, very underrated zombie movie IMO.

Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 1/7/2021, 6:51 AM
Just looking at all of Bautista's past projects it looks like he's trying as many different genres as possible.
rkshuttleworth
rkshuttleworth - 1/7/2021, 8:48 AM
I can understand Batista wanting to do something different although it's not a bigger role.
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 1/7/2021, 8:54 AM
Would like to see him play Bane in a Secret Six movie.
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