Former WWE wrestler and Guardians of the Galaxy actor Batista has stated that he won’t be in the upcoming Gears of War movie, though has admitted he has “tried everything” to play the role of protagonist Marcus Fenix in the upcoming video game adaptation.
Dave Bautista, more commonly known by his WWE ring name Batista, has suggested that the film’s creators “could give AF” about him being in the starring role. Despite Batista enjoying a successful Hollywood career and sharing the physical attributes of the musclebound Marcus Fenix, it seems that he won’t be given the main role.
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Batista tweeted that while Hollywood has been “listening” to his campaign to star in the Gears of War movie, they aren’t interested in casting him. “Believe me when I say I’ve tried everything to make this happen,” the former WWE Superstar replied to a fan.
They’re listening. And they could give AF! 🙄.. but thank you for the support. Believe me when I say I’ve tried everything to make this happen. https://t.co/8THxKLkbdV
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) July 23, 2019
The Gears of War movie not casting Batista could be evidence of the different direction it’s reportedly headed in. In an interview with IGN in June, Gears of War developer The Coalition’s studio head Rod Fergusson said that the film wouldn’t be considered part of the game series’ canon.
“In order for the movie to be successful, it has to be a great movie first and a Gears movie second,” Fergusson said. “Basically the way that we sort of reconciled that was, we said, ‘oh the movie should be an alternate reality. It should not be dependent on the game story, nor should it influence the game story.’”
As the Gears of War film is taking a different path to the games, this could mean that its Gears soldiers will have a different “look” compared to their appearance in the Microsoft first-party franchise. Given that Batista has proven himself to be a more than capable actor since his breakout role as Drax in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s curious that his campaign to play Marcus Fenix would have been ignored: perhaps the movie Marcus will have a thinner neck than his herculean game counterpart?
