From WWE to Guardian of the Galaxy to God of War, Dave Bautista is really flexing, both literally and figuratively.
It’s been just over two months since Dave Bautista was confirmed as the new Kratos in the Amazon Prime Video God of War series, replacing injured actor Ryan Hurst, but the man formerly known as WWE’s “The Animal” proudly displayed his god-like physique on Instagram yesterday.
Bautista says he’s now at 250 pounds, which is still quite a bit lighter than what he used to wrestle at in the WWE, when he routinely took to the ring at around 290. But after retiring from in-ring competition and focusing on acting, he’s since lost a lot of that weight and began putting it back on this summer.
Bautista was announced as Hurst’s replacement on Aug. 20, just a few months after the latter tore his pectoral muscle while filming and forcing Prime Video to scramble. Bautista was waiting in the wings, and he since got to work in the gym to be ready to get into the white and red paint and play father to a demigod.
It’s been fun to watch Bautista’s career, coming from his wrestling beginnings, to then taking on the role of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for several years of fun and iconic moments, and moving on to all sorts of varied acting roles since. This may be his biggest challenge yet, however, as he’s now 57 years old and this is quite a physically demanding role, as evidenced by Hurst’s on-set injury that helped land him the job.
Outside of Bautista, the God of War show’s cast is stacked, boasting a pantheon of Norse mythology along with talented actors: Callum Vinson as Atreus, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Ed Skrein as Baldur, Max Parker as Heimdall, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Teresa Palmer as Sif, Alastair Duncan as Mimir, Jeff Gulka as Sindri, Danny Woodburn as Brok, and more.
There’s currently no premiere date set for God of War on Prime Video, but it’s likely at least a year away, as Bautista now begins shooting and reshooting scenes that already took place early this summer with Hurst.
