Dave Bautista “Really Excited” to Play Valiant’s Eternal Warrior

Wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista continues his cinematic ascendance thanks to scene-stealing performances as the James Bond villain Mr. Hinx in Spectre and as Drax the Destroyer in back-to-back Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and he could soon be headlining his own blockbuster comic book-based franchise. In response to a recent Twitter query, Bautista seemingly confirmed that he is involved with bringing a live-action adaptation of Valiant Comics’ Eternal Warrior to the big screen, adding that he is “really excited” about the project.

After an initial 50-issue Valiant Comics run from 1992 to 1996, Eternal Warrior was relaunched by Valiant Entertainment in 2013. The series centers around Gilad Anni-Padda, a master tactician and warrior who was granted immortality by the Earth itself to serve as its guardian, the “Fist and Steel of the Earth,” defending it from catastrophes and meting out justice hack/slash-style. Gilad can die — and has countless times — but he is always resurrected when the Earth has need of him.

It’s still unknown what progress has been made on the Eternal Warrior movie or if Bautista is even officially on board, but Valiant CEO & CCO Dinesh Shamdasani had this to say about Bautista’s loose-lipped tweet:

I can neither confirm nor deny that @DaveBautista just revealed a giant secret lol!

— Dinesh Shamdasani (@dinesh_s) August 1, 2017