The Batman: Here’s What Dave Bautista Could Look Like as Bane

Despite his best efforts, Dave Batista won’t play Bane in The Batman. That doesn’t mean fans can’t imagine what Bautista might look like in costume as the character. Artist Saarukan Suhanthan put together a digital mockup of what Bautista could look like as the villain who broke the bat. “Man would I love to see a comic accurate Bane in The Batman,” the artist writes on Instagram. “I feel like if we did have him back in a movie, it would have to be CGI. But I still want to see Bautista as Bane, so here’s a middle ground between a CG Bane but played by Dave Bautista.”

Fans wondered if Bautista might play Bane in The Batman ever since Bautista shared a photo of himself outside the Warner Bros. lot in December. Bautista dashed those hopes, confirming on Twitter that he’s not playing Bane in The Batman, though he tried to make it happen. Bautista tweeted that “Unfortunately it’s not” happening. “Tried my best.”

This comment suggests his original post in December, which included the hashtag #DreamChaser, may have been a meeting about Bane. Whether that dream is not coming to pass is because they removed Bane from the film, or because there were never plans to use him, or because someone else is playing the character remains unclear. Or maybe it has something to do with the rumored Bane spinoff movie.

Bane appeared in two Batman live-action films previously. A version of the character appeared in Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin, played by professional wrestler Robert Swenson. A more intelligent, plotting version of Bane appeared in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, as portrayed by Tom Hardy.

The Batman has no shortage of villains for the Dark Knight, played by Robert Pattinson, to fight. Zoë Kravitz is playing Selina Kyle, the cat burglar known as Catwoman, who is sometimes romantically entangled with Batman. Paul Dano is Edward Nashton, a version of The Riddler. John Turturro is Carmine Falcone, a Gotham crime boss, while Collin Farrell plays Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot, a.k.a. The Penguin.

Farrell recently discussed the film’s script. “I have been watching the Batman films with my kids, but this script is something that feels incredibly original,” he continues. “It leans into it, but it doesn’t borrow; it’s born of the mythology of that character, Bruce Wayne, Batman, and Gotham. But it feels like a treatment and a version that I hadn’t seen before. Matt Reeves has done an incredible job of keeping it familiar and, at the same time, unique and new. It’s really exciting to be a part of it.”

Warner Bros. rescheduled The Batman’s release as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Director Matt Reeves remains confident in the process.

“It was going great,” Reeves said in an interview in April. “We shot about a quarter of the movie so far; we have three quarters to go. And when the time is right, and it’s safe to do so, we’ll return to it. It was a really exciting period to be exploring. Robert is a fantastic actor, and we have so many great actors in it! It’s been really, really exciting to go on this journey with them, and to feel like we are trying to do something different.”

The Batman opens in theaters on October 1, 2021.

Photo by Mary Clavering/Young Hollywood/Getty Images