Batista On Why “The Walking Dead” Turned Him Down

Former WWE Champion Batista says he tried to get a role on The Walking Dead for years, but was denied.

Batista is set to star in the long-awaited “Army of The Dead” movie for Netflix, and that film gave him the chance he’d been waiting for – to enter a zombie apocalypse. Batista noted that he’s a fan of the zombie genre, and offered to work The Walking Dead, the most popular zombie series, for free.

“I’m a zombie fan,” Batista told Empire Magazine on the set of AOTD. “I tried to get on Walking Dead for years. I said I would come and play a zombie for free, but they said, ‘You’re too big!’”

Zack Snyder’s “Army of The Dead” film is a post-apocalyptic zombie heist movie that stars Batista as Scott Ward, who leads a team of mercenaries into an undead-infested Las Vegas to pull off a massive heist. The movie sees Snyder return to the zombie genre 17 years after his directorial debut “Dawn of The Deaed” make. Batista commented on why he signed on for the movie, which is a genre mash-up that promises scares, action and heist-thriller twists & turns.

“For me, there had to be something special about a zombie film for me to sign up. What sets us apart is the heist. But there’s a whole bunch of different layers to this film,” Batista said.

The “Army of The Dead” movie is scheduled to premiere on Netflix this summer. Below is a photo of Batista’s Scott Ward character in the movie, with his safe-cracker named Dieter, played by Matthias Schweighofer:

Zack Snyder's Army of the Dead photo shows off Dave Bautista's character Scott Ward, leader of the zombie heist group. https://t.co/Ix7USG8RV3 pic.twitter.com/6c9avyfd1E

— Screen Rant (@screenrant) February 15, 2021