Dave Bautista Wants To Make a ‘Star Wars’ Movie

You probably know Dave Bautista as Drax, the knife-wielding, overly literal member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Or maybe you know Bautista from his days in WWE, where he was a frequent world champion and last left the company with maybe the funniest wave goodbye ever. Perhaps you’re a huge fan of The Man with the Iron Fists (but I kind of doubt it). However you know Bautista, you probably think of him as an intense, brooding badass. But apparently there’s a Dave Bautista we don’t know, Bautista who’s ... a huge Star Wars nerd?

This according to the man himself, who did a Twitter Q&A today as part of the escalating promotional tour for Spectre, the upcoming James Bond adventure where Bautista co-stars as Mr. Hinx, an evil assassin. (I hope he gives Bond that goodbye wave right before he tries to kill him.) Asked what his next life goal is after conquering professional wrestling, Marvel movies, and beating up Daniel Craig, Bautista gave an enthusiastic response:

That last part is a playful wink at Craig, who either is or is not making a not-so-secret cameo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a Stormtrooper. Either way, Star Wars does do these little cameos for big-time fans of the Force; Simon Pegg, for example, plays one of Episode VII’s aliens inside a big prosthetic costume. So Bautista’s dream is not that far-fetched (although he might be too bulky to fit comfortably inside a Stormtrooper costume; they might need to let his armor out just to be safe).

Bautista’s a pretty great rising action star, though. He could be good in an evil Sith Lord sort of role. Or, hell, let him play Drax. Disney owns both Marvel and Star Wars, after all. I see Drax having a real problem with the phrase “Let the Force be with you.” (“What Force? I see nothing, wrinkly green man!” etc.)