For a guy that hates being compared to his former in-ring rivals and Hollywood contemporaries Dwayne Johnson and John Cena, Dave Bautista has starred in just as many broad, effects-driven projects as they have, despite blasting the former’s acting abilities and laughing off suggestions of a buddy movie with the latter.
In addition to his stint as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Drax the Destroyer, Bautista has also appeared in heightened martial arts flick The Man with the Iron Fists, sci-fi sequel Riddick, fantasy adventure The Warrior’s Gate, Denis Villenueve duo Blade Runner 2049 and Dune, James Bond outing Spectre and more, while he’s next set to star in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, high concept actioner Universe’s Most Wanted and George R.R. Martin adaptation In the Lost Lands with Resident Evil duo Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich.
In fact, the 52 year-old even turned down a role in The Suicide Squad that was written specifically for him by James Gunn, which ironically ended up going to Cena, in order to board Zack Snyder’s apocalyptic heist blockbuster Army of the Dead instead. And while he may have taken a bullet to the brain before the credits rolled, insider Daniel Richtman now claims that Bautista’s Scott Ward will be back for the sequels.
How, you may ask? Well, it’s pretty vague, with the tipster’s explanation stretching no further than it’ll happen “somehow,” but when you’re talking about a universe where zombies f*ck, some of them are robots in disguise and there’s also a potential time loop, Area 51 and extraterrestrials lurking in the background of the mythology, even the most credulity-stretching explanations for Bautista’s Army of the Dead comeback can’t be ruled out.