James Gunn Wants You to Tell Him Who Dave Bautista Should Play in the DCU

Could Dave Bautista be coming to James Gunn’s DC Universe? Only if you choose wisely. The director, in response to a recent interview from Bautista, shared on Threads that he’d love to bring the actor into the DCU, but he’d like everyone’s suggestions on how to do it.

Gunn reposted an interview that Bautista did recently where he gushed about working with the director on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and even claimed that he would “work with him for free.” The veracity of that statement might very well be tested in the future, as Gunn commented on the repost, “Love @davebautista. Who would you like to see Dave play in the DCU?”

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While that’s not confirmation of Bautista making over to Gunn’s new DC Universe, which will kick off with Superman Legacy, the director is a pro at social media and often drops things and ideas that are/will be reality in the future. To give even more weight to his question being more than hypothetical, Gunn went on to share the post on his Instagram stories, pulling in a far larger audience than the smaller Threads user base. It’s also not unheard of for Gunn to hand-pick actors he’s worked with and is friends with. He’s tapped Nathan Fillion, a long-time cohort, to play Green Lantern in Superman Legacy, for example.

Just who do the people want to see Bautista play in the DCU? Some of the more popular suggestions are Mongul, Darkseid, and Martian Manhunter. One could also argue that Lobo would be a great choice, especially since a Lobo film has been rumored for a while now. However, that role may also go to ex-Aquaman actor Jason Momoa. Whoever Bautista gets to play, the actor is sure to bring a strong performance, and maybe he won’t have to sit through multiple hours of makeup to do it this time.