Army of the Dead reunion may finally land Dave Bautista his dream job

Gears of War's transportation to the big screen has eluded us for many years, but now that it's officially in the hands of Netflix, Dave Bautista's very public fixation on playing Marcus Fenix may finally be rewarded.

First released by Epic Games for Xbox 360 back in 2006, this post-apocalyptic, third-person shooter spawned four sequels and three spin-offs across the next 14 years, with the chequebooks of Hollywood simultaneously opening and closing as filmmakers dreamt of bringing the Locust-swarmed planet of Sera and its grizzled commandos to life.

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Bautista - a wrestler-turned-actor known for his roles in Guardians of the Galaxy and Knock at the Cabin - first spoke of his passion for Gears of War five years ago during a Twitter Q&A session, revealing that he'd been "pursuing" an adaptation for ages, to no avail.

Light began to materialise at the end of the tunnel last autumn, though, with Netflix's acquisition of the franchise.

Reacting to the news, Bautista uploaded a video of himself in specially-made gameplay armour, telling the camera: "This is my kind of s***! It's about f****** time..."

"I can't make this any easier. @gearsofwar @netflix #marcusfenix #GearsofWar," read his caption.

This is when the game's lead designer Cliff Bleszinski originally offered his two cents on the situation, too, replying in the comment section: "Brother, as the designer of 1 2 and 3 you're my first choice".

Skip to March 2023 and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jon Spaihts boards the streamer's movie adaptation.

"Gears of War is one of the all-time great action games, with vivid characters, a beautifully designed world, and a combat system that drives home the lethality of war and the importance of standing by your squadmates," the 53-year-old shared in a statement at the time.

"It wants to be cinema, and I'm thrilled to have the chance to help that happen."

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In the meantime, Bautista's old pal from the Army of the Dead days, Zack Snyder, appeared at Gamescon 2023 to promote his upcoming Netflix space opera Rebel Moon, which'll be split into two parts.

Asked by IGN which video games he believes have great cinematic potential, the director said: "We've talked about a bunch of... Gears has always come up in our sort of circle.

"I was always interested in the Halo franchise... They of course kind of made that, but it was something I always thought could be incredible."

This prompted Bleszinski to once again speak up for Bautista, sanctioning his casting for a second time.

"I approve [of Snyder directing Gears] but only if @DaveBautista is Marcus..." he tweeted.

Given Snyder and Bautista's convenient history with the streaming service, it seems like all the dominoes are in a row for a perfect Gears movie - should the filmmaker want to give that Spaihts script a look.

Stay tuned.

Watch: Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa team up in Angel Manuel Soto's The Wrecking Crew