This isn’t the first we’ve heard of a Bane solo movie. “Guardians of the Galaxy” star Dave Bautista previously revealed he too visited the DC offices to pitch such a film with him as the lead. The actor also tweeted before about wanting to play Bane — previously played by Tom Hardy in 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” Speaking at Justice Con in April of 2021 (via Collider) Bautista confirmed he’d actually tried to make it happen, saying:
“[I] walked in the door and said, ‘I want to play Bane.’ I’m not kidding. They were a little like ‘Whoa, we’re not even casting Bane.’ I was like ‘I don’t care, I’m playing him.'”
Even with such persistence, the folks at Warners weren’t biting. Bautista had previously tweeted about how he’d “tried his best” to play Bane in Matt Reeves’ “The Batman,” a plan which also didn’t come to fruition. But all may not be lost.
When Manuel Soto went in to pitch Warner Bros. Discovery he had a solid idea of how to depict Bane and his backstory, but he didn’t necessarily have anyone in mind for the part. Now, despite being handed “Blue Beetle” and putting his Bane plans on the back burner, it looks as though the filmmaker at least knows who he would cast if he ever gets the green light. As he told Comic Book Movie:
“When I had conceived that idea [of a Bane film] I had no one in mind. But suddenly Dave Bautista came out to say that he wants to do it and I went, ‘This is an obvious choice, yes.’ And I had the chance to meet him. He saw ‘Blue Beetle,’ and he loved it and so I said okay if they let me do Bane… you’re my Bane.”