Fil-Am Movie Star Dave Bautista Wants to Portray Superman Villain Lex Luthor

Dave Bautista announced this week that he would not play the villain Bane in James Gunn’s upcoming DC films.

He said that he is getting too old to do the role justice and has other plans for the future. After all, Bautista said he only wanted to be a “good actor.”

Fortunately, he proved his commitment to excellence as he quickly aimed to be Lex Luthor in the recently announced Superman: Legacy.

What inspired Dave Bautista to play Lex Luthor?

Dave Bautista says he could be interested in playing Lex Luthor.

“It's interesting to me. I'd be totally up for that, James Gunn.”

(Source: https://t.co/dDo6JQlnxA) pic.twitter.com/Fjn3EhFYCk

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 31, 2023

The Fil-Am actor turned down portraying Bane in James Gunn’s DC movie universe. Dave Bautista said the director needed younger actors for the reboots.

As he explained his decision during interviews, he revealed that he wanted to play more dramatic roles. 

Shortly after, he found inspiration for an upcoming role in an unlikely source: a random IG post. 

An Instagram user named Chris Killian posted a side-by-side photo of Bautista and Lex Luthor with the caption:

“All this Dave Bautista DC chatter and I need ya’ll to hear me out.”

Believe it or not, this innocuous post inspired the film star to gun for another Gunn film:

“Someone mentioned something on Instagram I saw tonight… and I thought that was really interesting.”

“…I may make a call to James and see if they got anybody in mind, but that is more appealing to me at this point of my life and my career than playing Bane.”

Why would Dave Bautista play Lex Luthor?

Photo Credit: uproxx.com

Why would playing Lex Luthor be more appealing to Dave Bautista than portraying Bane? We might piece answers together based on his long-term goal and character.

As mentioned earlier, Bautista wants to play more dramatic roles. Lex Luthor sets himself apart from other comic book villains because he does not have superpowers.

Unlike Bane, he does not win fights with brute strength but with cunning and wit. For example, look at how Kevin Spacey portrayed the character in the 2006 film Superman Returns.

Luthor whipped up a plan to use Kryptonite to flood numerous countries with a gigantic landmass so that people would pay him to live there.

It is still silly as far as superhero movie plots go. However, you would notice that Superman Returns did not show Luthor having a fistfight with the caped wonder.

Instead, Luthor was a conniving man who used Superman’s estranged partner Lois Lane and their son to manipulate him.

If Dave Bautista portrays Lex Luthor, he would likely have more dramatic and dialogue-heavy scenes. 

Dave Bautista wonders if he’s too “unattractive” for rom-coms:

“I always look in the mirror and I ask myself, ‘Am I that unattractive? Is there something that unappealing about me that excludes me from these parts?' […] I still have high hopes. I’ll just keep searching.” pic.twitter.com/bBMv03bHeS

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 31, 2023

He would not have to rely on his massive physique, unlike when he played Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Of course, that would depend on James Gunn’s long-term vision for the role and his upcoming films. 

If Gunn retains Lex Luthor’s comic book persona, it would become an appealing role for the Fil-Am movie star.

We would have to wait sometime to see if the director confirms Dave Bautista for the role. Fingers crossed for his appearance in a future Superman film!