Dave Bautista Clarifies Comments on Working With John Cena, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson

Dave Bautista set the record straight on being in movies with John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Earlier this week, the former WWE Superstar said he had no interest in sharing the big screen with Cena or Johnson, responding to a fan “Nah I’m good!!” However, Bautista clarified the comment, saying he doesn’t want to “be lumped in.”

Bautista, Cena, and Johnson are on their own paths when it comes to their movie careers, so it’s not likely we will see all three together in one film. Bautista made a name for himself in Hollywood with his role of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and will reprise his role in the film Thor: Love and Thunder, which will be released next year. His most recent movie, Army of the Dead, began streaming on Netflix in May and earned a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

“I think it has a lot to do with the way I’ve been building my career,” Bautista, 52, told Vulture when asked why he’s in demand for action films. “It has a lot to do with the way I’ve built relationships and proven myself. I have proven that I can deliver. It also has a lot to do with me being very open-minded and willing to play any character that’s interesting. I don’t need to be a lead, I don’t need to have a big part in a film. I will literally play any part as long as the character’s interesting or I’m working with interesting people.” In that same interview, Bautista talked about retiring the Drax role after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

“I don’t think it’s a problem, because the Marvel library is so extensive,” Bautista stated. “They’re gonna have material to draw from for well after I’m dead and gone. I know Disney has purchased Fox, and the X-Men have a whole extensive life ahead of them. That’s going to be a whole new universe. Their library is just too extensive. There’s so much there that they’ll never run out of material or actors or superheroes. When they’re past that, people will look back and just reboot stuff.”

Bautista will also star in the upcoming film Dune with Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa and Zendaya. The former WWE Champion was recently added to the cast of Knives Out 2. The film will be one of two sequels of the Knives Out franchise which will stream on Netflix.