“I want to play Bane so bad I went to Warner Bros., had an appointment with them, had an appointment with DC, walked in the door and said, ‘I want to play Bane,’” Bautista said. “I’m not kidding. They were a little like. ‘Woah, we’re not even casting Bane.’ I was like ‘I don’t care, I’m playing him.’”

Bautista might have to wait a while before Warner Bros. decides to bring Bane back to the big screen. The character was famously played by Tom Hardy in Christopher Nolan’s 2012 comic book tentpole “The Dark Knight Rises,” and it’s a performance that continues to draw headlines all these years later (see Nolan saying last year that critics did not appreciate Hardy’s performance enough). Would Warner Bros. revive Bane with Hardy’s work still lingering in the minds of moviegoers? There was a 15-year gap between Robert Swenson playing Bane in “Batman & Robin” and Hardy playing Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises.” Related Ice Cube Claims Warner Bros. Is Still Holding Up More ‘Friday’ Films: ‘They Don’t Know What They’re Doing’ ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Says Warner Bros. Once Denied His Request to Parody the Harry Potter Theme Related Growing Number of Contenders Makes 2023 Best International Feature Race Less Predictable Oscars 2023: Best Makeup and Hairstyling Predictions
Given that Warner Bros. and DC Films is about to embrace the multiverse, it’s entirely possible Bautista could get his chance to play Bane sooner rather than later. The upcoming “Flash” movie will star two versions of Batman, one played by Michael Keaton and the other by Ben Affleck. There’s also Robert Pattinson’s “The Batman” launching in March 2022 from director Matt Reeves. The filmmaker is bringing new iterations of Penguin (Colin Farrell), Catwoman (Zoe Kravitz), and Riddler (Paul Dano) to the screen, which certainly leaves a door open for Bane popping up in the sequel. Bautista is surely hoping for it. Next up for Bautista is “Army of the Dead,” the Netflix zombie tentpole from Zack Snyder. The film is hitting the streaming platform on May 22. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.