Dave Bautista is a retired professional wrestler. Born on 18 January 1969, Batista was one of the biggest superstars in WWE during the Ruthless Aggression Era. He initially gained prominence as a member of the villainous stable Evolution and later went onto became a highly successful singles performer.
Batista is the longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion in WWE history with an astounding 282-day reign with the belt. He has held a total of six world championships in WWE and has won the Royal Rumble twice.
Since stepping away from WWE as a full-time performer in 2010, Batista ventured into acting and has attained similar success in Hollywood.
Dave Bautista Filmography so far
| Year | Title | Role |
| 2006 | Relative Strangers | Wrestler |
| 2009 | My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? | Police officer |
| 2010 | Wrong Side of Town | Big Ronnie |
| 2011 | House of the Rising Sun | Ray |
| 2011 | The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption | Argomael |
| 2012 | The Man with the Iron Fists | Brass Body |
| 2013 | Riddick | Diaz |
| 2014 | Guardians of the Galaxy | Drax the Destroyer |
| 2015 | L.A. Slasher | The Drug Dealer #1 |
| 2015 | Spectre | Mr. Hinx |
| 2015 | Heist | Jason Cox |
| 2016 | The Boss | Chad |
| 2016 | Kickboxer: Vengeance | Tong Po |
| 2016 | Marauders | Stockwell |
| 2016 | The Warriors Gate | Arun the Cruel |
| 2017 | Bushwick | Stupe |
| 2017 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | Drax the Destroyer |
| 2017 | 2048: Nowhere to Run | Sapper Morton |
| 2017 | Blade Runner 2049 | Sapper Morton |
| 2018 | Avengers: Infinity War | Drax the Destroyer |
| 2018 | Hotel Artemis | Everest |
| 2018 | Escape Plan 2: Hades | Trent DeRosa |
| 2018 | Final Score | Michael Knox |
| 2018 | Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy | Owen Davidson |
| 2019 | Avengers: Endgame | Drax the Destroyer |
| 2019 | Stuber | Det. Victor "Vic" Manning |
| 2019 | Escape Plan: The Extractors | Trent DeRosa |
| 2020 | My Spy | JJ |
| 2021 | Army of the Dead | Scott Ward |
| 2021 | Dune | Glossu Rabban |
| 2022 | Thor: Love and Thunder | Drax the Destroyer |
| 2022 | Knives Out 2 | - |
| 2023 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | Drax the Destroyer |
| 2023 | Dune: Part Two | Glossu Rabban |
Read about some of the famous movies by Dave Bautista below
Dave Bautista has appeared in 29 movies and has also been a producer for a couple of his films. Some of his best movies:
#10 Army of the Dead
Credits: IMDb
Army of the Dead released on May 14, 2021 is the latest movie to star Batista. The zombie heist movie is directed by Zack Snyder and is about a group of mercenaries lead by Batista’s character Scott Ward who plan a casino heist in a quarantined Las Vegas following a zombie outbreak.
Also Read: What is Batista's net worth?
The mercenary group consists of Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), Maria (Ana de la Reguera), Guzman (Raúl Castillo) and Chambers (Samantha Win).WWE promoted the movie during the WrestleMania Backlash, with zombies surrounding the ring as lumberjacks for The Miz Vs Damian Priest match at the event.
Army of the Dead Trailer -
Also Read: What is Dave Bautista’s role in his latest film from 2021, Dune?
#9 Stuber
Directed by Michael Dowse, Stuber was released on July 12, 2019. The buddy cop comedy is about Stu Prasad, a Uber driver played by Kumail Nanjiani and his passenger, a cop named Victor Manning (played by Batista) hunting down a notorious drug lord who killed the latter’s partner.
Stuber Trailer -
#8 My Spy
Credits: Amazon
My Spy was released on January 9, 2020. The American spy comedy was directed by Peter Segal. Batista stars in the movie as JJ, a seasoned CIA agent who is blackmailed by a precocious nine-year-old girl Sophie (played by Chloe Coleman) into training her to be a spy.
My Spy Trailer -
#7 Riddick
Credits: Amazon
Released on September 4, 2013, Riddick is third instalment in the Riddick film series. The sci-fi action flick was written and directed by David Twohy and stars Vin Diesel as the titular role. The movie is about Riddick battling alien predators for survival on a sun-scorched planet. Batista plays the role of Diaz, second-in-command of Santana’s (Jordi Molla) barbaric group.
Riddick Vs Diaz -
#6 Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy
Credits: IMDb
Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy is a Chinese martial arts film directed by Yuen Woo-ping and released on 21 December 2018. A spin-off of the Ip Man film series, the movie is about Max Zhang’s Cheung Tin Chi, a retired martial arts expert who now runs a tiny grocery in Hong Kong being drawn back to fighting by opium dealers. Dave Bautista plays the role of major antagonist Owen Davidson, the owner of Petrus restaurant and leader of a drug smuggling syndicate.
Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy -
#5 Spectre
Credits: The Telegraph
Spectre released on October 26, 2015 is the twenty-fourth movie in the James Bond series. The movie was directed by Sam Mendes and featured Daniel Craig as Bond for the fourth time in his career. In Spectre, Bond takes on a criminal mastermind named Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played by Christoph Waltz) who leads the global criminal organisation, Spectre. Batista portrayed the role of Mr. Hinx, a Blofeld assasin.
Spectre Train Fight Scene -
#4 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
Credits: Amazon
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 released on April 10, 2017, is the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy and the 15th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The superhero movie was directed by James Gunn and features an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Batista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper.
The film is about the Guardians helping their leader Peter Quill (played by Pratt) to learn more about his mysterious parentage. Batista portrays the role of Drax the Destroyer, a vengeance-driven warrior.
Drax and Mantis -
Check out here: How long did it take to put makeup on Dave Bautista for Guardians of the Galaxy?
#3 Guardians of the Galaxy
Credits: Amazon
Guardians of the Galaxy, released on August 1, is the 10th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The superhero movie was directed by James Gunn and featured an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Batista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper as the titular Guardians. The film follows Pratt’s Peter Quill and a group of intergalactic criminals evading the villain Ronan (played by Lee Pace) after stealing a mysterious orb. This movie served as Batista’s Marvel debut and this was the first time he portrayed his most famous on-screen character, Drax the Destroyer.
Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer -
Read here: Why is Dave Bautista leaving the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise?
#2 Blade Runner 2049
Credits: Amazon
Blade Runner 2049 is a neo-noir sci-fi film released on October 6, 2017. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, the movie is a sequel to the 1982 film Blade Runner. The movie stars Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, with the former playing Officer K, a new blade runner who unearths a secret that has the potential to destabilize society. Batista portrayed the role of Sapper Morton, an old Nexus-8 replicant and combat medic. The movie featured Batista’s most critically acclaimed performance till date.
Sapper’s Last Stand Scene -
#1 Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame
Credits: IMDb
Avengers: Infinity War, released on April 27, 2018 and its sequel Avengers: Endgame released on April 26, 2019 Batista reprised the role of Drax was both directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo.
Batista reprised his role as Drax in both movies (though he had very little screen time in the sequel) which had a star studded cast of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson.
The first movie is about the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy preventing Thanos (played by Josh Brolin) from acquiring the six Infinity Stones while the second movie dealt with the surviving Avengers seeking to reverse the decimation caused by Thanos.
Avengers: Infinity War, Drax and Iron Man Scene
