Dave Bautista Practically Tells Us He’s In James Gunn’s DCU, Who Is He Playing?

After Vol. 3, it looked like the former wrestler was ready to leave Marvel behind, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s ready to stop starring in superhero movies. As Yahoo! reports, James Gunn posted a picture to Instagram showing Dave Bautista in the director’s parking space, prompting speculation he will appear in a future DC movie.

Unfortunately, there are no details on Dave Bautista’s potential DC film appearances other than the picture in question.

There is always a chance that this was simply a social call and that James Gunn (famous for his oddball sense of humor) took the opportunity to make a silly joke, complete with the caption “I can’t believe you’re parking your body in my space.”

The final punchline to this joke is the toy truck next to Dave Bautista, making his already impressive frame look much bigger.

The actor visiting his close friend wouldn’t be out of the question. Fans with long memories may recall that after James Gunn was fired from the MCU due to old tweets (a movie that sent him directing films for DC, Marvel’s rival), Dave Bautista not only signed the petition with his fellow actors to bring Gunn back.

He also threatened to break his contract if Disney refused to at least use Gunn’s script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

In other words, their close friendship means this could have been a social call, but we think the media-savvy Gunn is hinting at Dave Bautista’s involvement in the DCU.

That brings us to the big question: if Dave Bautista were going to star in future DC movies or television shows, who would he play?

We can only speculate, but he has the perfect build to play Hugo Strange, the longtime Batman villain.

Not only does Bautista have the muscles to pose a physical threat to Gunn’s future Caped Crusader (keep in mind Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe is outside the DCU), but we know from Blade Runner 2049 that the former wrestler looks good in glasses, and that’s a signature part Strange’s whole look.

Speaking of Batman villains, it’s difficult not to imagine Dave Bautista could play Bane in a future DC movie.

The original design for this iconic Batman villain included a mask that looks very much like a luchador mask, causing many to speculate whether the design of the man who broke The Bat was really inspired by Mexican wrestlers.

If so, getting a real former wrestler to play a fictional wrestler stand-in could be absolutely perfect casting.

The only real downside there is casting Dave Bautista as a wrestling-inspired villain would be a bit too on the nose for James Gunn.

Regarding the actor’s future DC movies, we’re rather fond of the longshot theory by Reddit user Mickey_Juice that Bautista should play Etrigan the Demon. 

If you don’t already know, Etrigan is a fierce but erudite demon who speaks in rhymes; this role could be a perfect combination of Bautista’s fierce warrior from the MCU and his soft-spoken, gentle soul from Blade Runner 2049.

Throw in the fact that the DCU’s first chapter is subtitled Gods and Monsters and we think Bautista as Etrigan would fit right in. Or as Etrigan himself might put it: “The warrior Drax is in his past…Bautista is who James Gunn must cast!”