Dave Bautista, the thinking man’s musclebound movie star, is all over the place these days. He reprised his role of literal-minded team heavy Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 back in the spring, and come fall, he’ll appear in Blade Runner 2049 in an unspecified role. On top of that, he won over festival audiences for his turn as a determined survivor in post-apocalyptic Brooklyn in the upcoming Bushwick as well. And Bautista’s hot streak is showing no signs of stopping any time soon, as the mixed-martial-artist-turned-screen-star has taken another high-profile role right in his wheelhouse.

The Hollywood Reporter ran an item stating that Bautista would take the lead role in an upcoming film treatment of the Eternal Warrior comic books from the Valiant publishing line. The report cites a tweet from Bautista confirming that a script is already in the works:

As his name might suggest, the Eternal Warrior’s main power was immortality, but not without its costs. For the Eternal Warrior can and does die; it’s just that he’s always summarily resurrected, a process the reader is made to understand is extremely painful, lending the character a tragic edge. And with his gift/curse comes a great responsibility to Mother Earth as well. The Eternal Warrior must protect a figure called the Geomancer, an enigmatic being that works on behalf of the natural planet. This mission acquaints the Eternal Warrior with all manner of peril, often landing in the realm of the occult.

Bautista’s got plenty of experience in the superhero genre, but he has yet to prove that he could carry a franchise of this size by himself. This would be the ultimate test for him — as actor and box-office draw.

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