Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | September 4, 2026
The first time I ever laid eyes on Dave Bautista, he was wearing a sleeveless suit and had a chain tied around his neck. He was enormous, full of energy, and one of the last wrestlers I would have expected to make the jump to acting. It wasn’t like I thought he was bad or anything, just that Bautista looked like a pro wrestler, and that’s not always the easiest to transfer into films. However, not only found his niche, but he kept challenging himself and has become one of the best wrestler-turned-actors out there.
So, I was not too surprised when, a couple of years ago, the former partner of Reverend D-Von announced that he had decided to lose much of his muscle mass so he could have more opportunities to play different kinds of people. He also explained at the time that getting so big for Knock At The Cabin made him feel unhealthy, and losing the weight had the opposite effect. It seemed like the beginning of a new era for the actor, but then a certain video game adaptation came a callin’.
God of War is being adapted over at Amazon. You may or may not have heard that they had some trouble with the lead actor, and by “trouble,” I mean they cast Ryan Hurst, who voiced Thor in God of War Ragnarok, to play him onscreen, put out a not-quite-up-to-snuff-looking picture of him online, and then fired him once he got injured while filming. After Hurst was removed from the project, Bautista was announced as his replacement, and the man has been hitting the gym once again.
He took to Instagram to show he’s been weight training for three weeks and has two more months to go, presumably meaning he’ll start work on God of War sometime in November. When Hurst was injured, it was reported that his recovery could take four to six months. They would probably have banked on the latter timeline, meaning they wouldn’t be able to start shooting again until 2027. At least the recasting will allow them to get back in front of cameras sooner, as the studio claimed it wanted, but it doesn’t make Hurst’s ouster hurt any less, I’m sure.
I also hope that Bautista is happy, as this seems like a big reversal from where he was just two years ago, something he acknowledges in the Instagram post with his choice of song (Just When I Thought I Was Out by Omar Cruz). If this is what he wants, fantastic. He doesn’t look as big as he used to, but a lot can happen over two months, and I’m sure that Amazon wants a different reaction when they release the first still of the actor from the set.
