Anyone who follows Dave Bautista on social media is likely well aware of his desire to join the cast of the Gears of War film, and while that is still not planned in an official way, we will be seeing him as a playable character in the upcoming release of Gears 5.
Bautista revealed the news through Twitter earlier today, donning the in-game armor worn by the protagonists from the series. The character will be live in the game following the WWE Clash of Champions event on September 15th. The character will not be Bautista, but rather, Batista, the name of the character that has headlined so many wrestling events over the years.
The inclusion of a wrestling character may have seemed like a stretch to believe at one point, but Batista is not the only out-of-place individual to join the ranks of Gears 5. In collaboration with the release of Terminator: Dark Fate, players will also have access to Sarah Connor as portrayed by Linda Hamilton, alongside a T-800 Terminator, the original in the series.
For some time now, Bautista has made it clear that he would love to play for film adaptation of Marcus Fenix, the main character of the game series. He has considered the job to be a dream role, and that he had been actively pursuing it, though there seems no indication that this will be a reality.
There are many reasons why Bautista may not ever play the role. For one, the film has been in limbo for nearly a decade now over production issues. This is not uncommon for films, and the Gears of War adaptation may simply never happen.
Another reason for not casting Bautista may simply be political, as the actor has been vocal in the past about the firing and eventual re-hiring of James Gunn from the Guardians of the Galaxy series. There, Bautista was open in his threat not to return to the film unless Gunn was rehired. While fans of the series may cheer him on, the act may be sufficient enough to bar him from a number of projects in Hollywood.
For now, fans should be happy to have Bautista in the Gears universe at least in some way. It may be the only iteration of a character we ever see.
Gears 5 will formally launch this upcoming Friday, September 6th, on PC and Xbox One for those who ordered the Ultimate Edition. Everyone who purchased the standard edition of the game will have access to the game as of September 10th.
Source: Dualshockers.com, Inverse.com, Forbes.com