Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto recently revealed that if DC Studios decided to move forward with his pitch for a Bane origin film, he would cast Dave Bautista as the iconic Batman villain.
During an interview with Damian Nakache of Hablemos De Cine (which has been translated from Spanish to English), Soto was asked if he had any actors in mind for Bane when he first pitched the solo movie to DC. “Well, look, when I had conceived that idea, I had no one in mind,” Soto admitted. “But suddenly Dave Bautista came out to say that he wants to do it and I went, ‘This is an obvious choice, yes.'”
Soto also mentioned that he got the chance to meet Bautista recently, with the director revealing that the fan-favorite actor — who plays Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — has seen Blue Beetle and reportedly “loved it.” He added, “… so I said okay if they let me do Bane… you’re my Bane.”
Dave Bautista wants to play Bane
Bautista has been vocal about wanting to play Bane — who famously broke Batman’s back in the “Knightfall” comic book arc — since the early 2020s. However, in January 2023, he admitted that he was probably too old to play the fan-favorite villain in James Gunn’s upcoming DC Universe, explaining that Gunn needs to “plan for the next 15 years, and I just don’t think you can do that with me.” Bautista is currently 54 years old.
Soto recently opened up about how he became attached to Blue Beetle, explaining that he went to DC to pitch a Bane origin movie only to walk away with an offer to direct Blue Beetle. The director noted that the studio said, “There’s this character that we’ve been developing for a couple of years. The Blue Beetle, a Latino superhero.”
Xolo Maridueña stars in Blue Beetle as the titular character, Jaime Reyes, who “unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab.” The synopsis continues, “When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle.”
Blue Beetle opens in theaters on August 18, 2023.
