Dave Bautista Talks Picking ‘Army of the Dead’ Over ‘The Suicide Squad’

It was a tough dilemma.

Army of the Dead Dave Bautista The Suicide Squad

Dave Bautista opened up about his decision to star in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead instead of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.

Although fans finally got to see Dave Bautista slaying zombies in Las Vegas recently with the release of Army of the Dead, the actor had a tough decision to make when taking the role. When he was offered the role, the Guardians of the Galaxy star was already getting ready to collaborate with director James Gunn on The Suicide Squad. But because Netflix would help elevate his career further he chose to star in the Zack Snyder film over partnering with his friend again. But it wasn’t an easy choice to make.

Dave Bautista recently opened up about his dilemma between Army of the Dead and The Suicide Squad to Entertainment Tonight, explaining that it was more about his friendship with James Gunn which made things difficult. Bautista explained that the director “changed the trajectory of my life” and noted that Gunn had written a supporting role specifically for him. Take a look at his words about passing on The Suicide Squad below.

“The decision was heartbreaking. The conversation with James Gunn was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my career because this is a man who is not only a friend, but this is a friend who had faith in me and believed in me when not a lot of people did. And he not only changed the trajectory of my career, but he also changed the trajectory of my life because he had faith in me. So to go to him and tell him that I can’t do this film, and I can’t do the role that he wrote for me, was so hard. It just really hurts my heart even thinking about having this conversation. So at the time, it was a supporting role and a great film, but I was doing it because it was with James Gunn. I just wanted to work with my friend.”

What do you make of Dave Bautista’s decision to star in the Netflix film instead of The Suicide Squad? Who do you think he would’ve played in the film? Sound-off in the comments below.

Army of the Dead is one of the first projects Snyder has taken upon with his production company The Stone Quarry. Set during a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, the film follows a group of mercenaries that venture into a quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted. The director co-wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten. The film is the first in a set of films that includes a prequel directed by star Matthias Schweighöfer known as Army of Thieves and an animated prequel that explains how the zombies came to be.

In addition to directing Army of the Dead, Zack Snyder is serving as the film’s cinematographer. He’s also producing the picture with his wife and producing partner Deborah Snyder alongside Wesley Coller. Ori Marmur and Andrew Norman are overseeing for Netflix. The film stars Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Tig Notaro, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, Matthias Schweighöfer, Samantha Win, Ana de la Reguera and Rich Cetrone.

Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead is available to watch on Netflix.

Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for all the latest news on Army of the Dead and The Suicide Squad, and be sure to subscribe to Heroic Hollywood’s YouTube channel for more original video content!

Source: Entertainment Tonight

Eammon Jacobs

Eammon Jacobs

British dork who can be found online raving about how good Tron: Legacy is.