Dave Bautista Wants To Play A Batman Villain

Dave Bautista is a fixture of the Marvel Cinematic Universe thanks to his starring role as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Thing is, that doesn’t mean he is opposed to playing a different sort of character over in DC’s corner of the movie universe, and he is definitely into one specific idea centered on Batman‘s world. Batman has one of the most iconic lineups of villains in comics, so the options are many, and Bautista could probably bring several of them to life in a unique way. Thanks to a recommendation from B.J. Mendelson however, we now know one villain that Bautista seems to be behind all the way.

The discussion kicked off when Mendelson took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the new Joker trailer. “Nope. Still not feeling the “Joker” movie,” Mendelson wrote. “If you’re going to give a Batman villain a standalone movie, it should be the Matt Hagen Clayface starring @DaveBautista.”

Bautista shared that post and shared Mendelson’s enthusiasm for the idea, saying “I going to enthusiastically agree with you on that! 🙌🏽”

Matt Hagen is actually the second person to use the Clayface name in the comics and is much less well known than the original Basil Karlo, though he is most known by fans of the Batman: Animated Series, which used the Hagen name but had a story more based on Karlo. Either way, a Bautista Clayface definitely has us intrigued, and we are all for it.

Bautista also took a second to address the Joker film, and he can’t wait to see it, despite not really connecting it to Batman.

“Odd thing is I’m dying to see it but my brain has not connected it to Batman at all,” Bautista wrote. “There’s a disconnect for some reason but I can’t wait to see Joaquin as The Joker. Looks interestingly dark and grounded in the vain of The Dark Knight series. I’m in!!”

Joker stars Phoenix (Arthur Fleck/Joker), Zazie Beetz (Sophie Dumond), Robert De Niro (Murray Franklin), Brett Cullen (Thomas Wayne), Frances Conroy (Penny Fleck), Marc Maron (Ted Marco), Douglas Hodge (Alfred Pennyworth), Josh Pais (Hoyt Vaughn), Bryan Tyree Henry, Bryan Callen, Shea Whigham, and Glen Fleshler. You can find the official description below.

“Drama. Joker centers around the iconic arch-nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. The exploration of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.”

Joker hits theaters on October 4th.