As it seems with so many pro wrestlers, Dave Bautista — who went by Batista in the ring — also had aspirations for the big screen. But not too many have landed such high-profile jobs as he has, having been cast as Drax the Destroyer in the MCU. But it wasn’t always Marvel that Bautista wanted to be associated with, once envisioning himself as a key villain to both Batman and Superman.
Dave Bautista was in his mid-20s when Bane was first introduced in his namesake DC comic. Early on – and well before he entered the ring for WWE – Bautista was drawn to the hulking, bulking persona that made Bane one of the baddest dudes to ever grace the pages of DC. “For forever, it was Bane. When I was younger, I wanted to play Bane; it was like a dream role for me. And I got to a point in my career where I just felt like I was just too old to play Bane. I think the physicality of it, at this point in my career and my life, I just wouldn’t be able to do the character justice.” These are similar to the sentiments Bautista shared last year, when he said that he has aged out of playing Bane, especially as the future of the Batman series moves forward.
Outside of Bane, Bautista also got lured into the idea of portraying Lex Luthor on the big screen. But now that Nicholas Hoult has landed that role for James Gunn for next year’s Superman, that keeps Bautista far from hopeful about ever joining the DCU. “I saw somewhere online that someone posted something of me playing Lex Luthor; an older Lex Luthor. I kind of became obsessed with that idea. Obviously, they moved on from that idea, so at this point, I’m struggling to find my place in the DC universe. But I’d really be up for anything.”
Considering the relationship between Dave Bautista and James Gunn (who helmed the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy before jumping brands), one could see Bautista still getting nudged into the world of DC. Gunn even asked social media followers who they thought he should play. And while many did say Bane (it’s such an obvious choice, isn’t it?), other names that came up included Hugo Strange and Mongul.
Bautista could likely handle Bane, but can you envision him as a modern day Lex Luthor? Do you think he’ll ever join the DCU?
Alien: Romulus is performing more or less within expectations at the North American box office. We had it pegged at making around $40 million this weekend, and early figures from Deadline reveal this is exactly the range the movie is opening at domestically, with it likely coming in between $40-42 million. But, what’s interesting is that the film is turning out to be an unexpected smash hit overseas, with it looking to open in the $60 million range, giving the horror sequel a $100 million plus international opening. Notably, the film is playing to killer business in China, with it looking at a $20 million plus opening in a year where American movies haven’t been scoring with audiences in that formerly ultra-profitable territory.
To note, Ridley Scott’s last two Alien movies, Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, both outperformed their domestic performance internationally, and Romulus seems primed to do the same. With a relatively lean $80 million budget, Fede Álvarez’s sequel seems primed to be a very profitable franchise instalment for Disney, with it now likely to get a follow-up.
Deadline also reports that the movie’s CinemaScore rating is quite good, earning a B+, which is a strong rating for a movie with horror elements baked in. It will easily take the top spot from Deadpool & Wolverine, which is still playing strongly on its way to a $27 million weekend and a domestic gross in the $540 million-plus range. Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us is also showing excellent staying power, with it likely only to drop in the 50% range this weekend for an estimated $23 million weekend. It should pass $100 million domestically by mid-week.
With Alien: Romulus performing so well, make sure to check out our Alien Movies ranked list and let us know where you think it falls in the saga.
Nothing gave us more to talk about this week than the meaty new trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Almost ten years after its predecessor was released, The Veilguard will finally be here on October 31, and we’ve broken down the release date trailer to highlight all the tantalizing details we noticed. Alongside…
Nothing gave us more to talk about this week than the meaty new trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Almost ten years after its predecessor was released, The Veilguard will finally be here on October 31, and we’ve broken down the release date trailer to highlight all the tantalizing details we noticed. Alongside…
Let’s face it – Alien movies are not created equal. In my Alien: Romulus review, I noted that there have really only ever been two flawless films in the franchise, with the rest all having moments of genius (well – most of them) but none measuring up to the first two movies in the saga. All of this makes Alien movie rankings quite controversial, as it’s a divisive topic (which our Live Stream host, Kier Gomes, tackled last week). So, how does our Alien movies ranked list shape up? Let’s dive right in, shall we?
Alien Vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
I honestly couldn’t believe Fox had the gall to release this as a legit entry into the franchise in 2007. At the time, the studio had a bad reputation for putting out half-baked and cheap genre fare (made even more frustrating by how many were based on top-notch properties). This was the nadir of both the Alien and Predator franchises. It had a terrible cast of characters and ruined the long-awaited prospect of letting a xenomorph loose in an urban setting. Adding insult to injury was the terrible cinematography and shaky-cam aesthetic (which was all the rage back then).
Alien Vs Predator (2004)
But at least Requiem was rated R. In 2004, Fox enlisted writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson to do the same thing for the Alien & Predator franchises he did for Resident Evil. The result was a dull, PG-13 bore-fest that did little to prove to fans that these famous 20th Century Fox characters belonged with each other on the big screen. Even an appearance by Lance Henriksen and the beautiful Sanaa Lathan in the lead couldn’t save this one, which also made the moronic choice of making the Predators good guys!
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
When I saw this movie in theatres back in 1997, for some reason, I liked it. It may be that director Jean-Pierre Jeunet embraced a more action-driven Aliens aesthetic that pleased me (or the fact that I was fifteen), but I find it nearly unwatchable now, save for a few good bits. Jeunet is a solid director but was out of his element making a sci-fi horror movie. At least he had a great cast, with Sigourney Weaver playing a clone of Ripley (crossed with a xenomorph) and Ron Perlman, a kick-ass anti-hero, as one of a gang of mercenaries she teams up with. However, Winona Ryder’s Call is a strange character, as she’s supposed to be a synthetic but doesn’t act remotely like one at any point in the movie. It also has a genuinely chilling moment where Ripley discovers horrifying, failed clones of herself that beg for death, which ranks among the most unnerving scenes in the franchise.
Alien: Covenant (2017)
I had high hopes for this one, as I mostly enjoyed Ridley Scott’s Prometheus and was more than psyched to see one of my favourite directors make a full-on Alien movie again. Yet, you can tell that Scott, at this point, had gotten bored with xenomorphs and seemed more interested in continuing the story of Michael Fassbender’s synthetic, David, as he reveals a chillingly evil side that was only hinted at in the last film. It’s not terrible, and Fassbender is excellent in dual roles (he also plays another, more sympathetic android), but despite some good gore moments, the movie is frustratingly inconsistent.
Prometheus (2012)
Ridley Scott’s decision to make a prequel to Alien depicting the history of the so-called space engineers always struck me as misguided. Do we need to know where the xenomorphs came from? The mythology he built here (which was also partially added to Alien: Romulus) never really needed to be explored. Even still, the movie is visually arresting, with Fassbender excellent as the android David, Charlize Theron unusually unsympathetic as a Weyland-Yutani stood, and Idris Elba effortlessly charming. However, I found the usually excellent Naomi Rapace slightly miscast in a dull role.
Alien 3 (1992)
When this movie came out in 1992, I hated it. I was only ten, but Aliens was already one of my all-time favourite movies. I couldn’t believe that they had the cheek to kill one of the franchise’s coolest characters ever unceremoniously, Michael Biehn’s Hicks, off-screen (to say nothing about poor Newt). Nowadays, I do respect David Fincher’s dark approach, with the movie having some brilliant moments, a terrific score by Elliot Goldenthal, and an excellent supporting turn by Charles S. Dutton. It still makes me mad, but I appreciate the ambition and guts behind it, especially if you watch the alternate cut they put out on home media.
Alien: Romulus (2024)
As I said in my review, the movie is 75% a kick-ass Alien movie and 25% a lame sequel to Prometheus and Alien: Covenant. However, I maintain that it’s still the third-best Alien movie.
Alien (1979)
I often flip-flop back and forth between what I consider to be the best Alien movie. Ultimately, it comes down to your preferred genre: horror or action. I’ve always been more of an action guy, but it doesn’t change that this is still one of the best-conceived and edited horror movies of all time and a stone-cold masterpiece. From Jerry Goldsmith’s score to the cast to H.R. Giger’s designs, this is one for the Pantheon for sure.
Aliens (1986)
However, James Cameron’s Aliens is still my choice for the best sci-fi action movie ever. The film is a rollercoaster ride, with one of the best ensemble casts of all time, including Lance Henriksen as the android Bishop, Bill Paxton as Hudson, Jenette Goldstein as Vasquez, and Michael Biehn as Hicks. But, of everyone, the most iconic is Sigourney Weaver, whose Ripley evolved from being something of a company stooge in the first movie to one of the two or three greatest action heroes (male or female) of all time. And, I mean, “Get away from her, you bitch” gives me chills every time, as does that score by James Horner.
What would your Alien movies ranked order be? Let us know in the comments!
Wanna know how I got these scales? Those looking for some of the more colorful Batman villains from his stacked rogues gallery might be disappointed to learn that the likes of Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy may never be featured in the universe built around the Batman movie reboots. So what does that spell for the future of our favorite Bat-baddies?
According to Casey Pyke, who did visualizations on The Batman, while the over-the-top nature of Riddler (Paul Dano) and Penguin (Colin Farrell) was suitably adapted for the darker, brooding tone of 2022’s The Batman, there just might be “something in the way” that keeps some of the more elaborate villains off the screen. “As far as Killer Croc and stuff go, I do think Killer Croc is probably a little far fetched for that world. But the way that they did Riddler and Penguin in that movie totally felt like Riddler and Penguin. Even with Penguin with his prosthetics and everything. I feel like there’s a lot of characters that could enter that world, but Killer Croc and Mr. Freeze, Poison Ivy, maybe, maybe not.”
That’s not too optimistic for those who wanted to see the likes of those Batman villains enter Gotham. Out of those, Killer Croc does seem a bit silly, although it could offer some deep, dank fights in the sewers. But I could see Poison Ivy working incredibly well, especially going off of how she was utilized in the Arkham video games.
As for who we can expect to see in The Batman – Part II, we did get a glimpse of the franchise villain, Joker, in the 2022 movie, with Barry Keoghan making a cameo as the Clown Prince of Crime. That said, we might be having a little Joker fatigue at this point, with Joaquin Phoenix’s second outing as the character due out this fall, easily beating The Batman – Part II to the punch even beforeits release date was moved back a year.
Which villains – high-profile or not – do you want to see in The Batman – Part II? Give us your top picks below!
Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at theodorebond@joblo.com.
So you like going fast, huh? Well, unfortunately for you, the law says speeding is illegal, and even on a race track, you’ll be lucky to see speeds higher than 150 mph unless you’re in something wildly expensive. The easiest way to get your speed fix would be to ride some of the fastest roller coasters in the world,…
So you like going fast, huh? Well, unfortunately for you, the law says speeding is illegal, and even on a race track, you’ll be lucky to see speeds higher than 150 mph unless you’re in something wildly expensive. The easiest way to get your speed fix would be to ride some of the fastest roller coasters in the world,…
This week saw Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm delete a post from late June in which he’d admitted to “inappropriate” behavior with a minor, and instead post a new tweet teasing a forthcoming return and the statement, “we have lots to talk about.” Additionally, we’ll fill you in on that new Valve game that thousands of…
