Dave Bautista Is Shepherding An Eternal Warrior Film
by Erik Amaya
The Valiant film universe may get a boost from Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Dave Bautista.
Valiant has been trying for some time to bring some of their comic book properties to the screen with titles like Bloodshot and Ninjak in development. In the case of Eternal Warrior, the project may have an added boost thanks to Dave Bautista, who confirmed his involvement in the feature film adaptation via Twitter.
Glad you asked cuz I’m really excited about EW. We are currently working to get the script fan worthy and then we’ll be full on from there. https://t.co/aHO7DVPBVY
— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) August 1, 2017
As The Wrap reports, Bautista is in negotiations to star as Gilad Anni-Padda, the immortal superhero.
Originally written by Jim Shooter with art by John Dixon, Gilad starred in Eternal Warrior from 1992-1996 and continued to be relaunched during Valiant’s various changes in ownership. With the aid of Geomancers who can hear the voice of the planet, Gilad is sent to prevent calamities and carry the cause of justice. He is described as a great warrior and a brilliant tactician. His story reaches from the world’s first city-state, Ur, to the present day and beyond. Also, being a Valiant character, he has strong ties to titles like Archer & Armstrong and X-O Manowar.
Which all sounds cool, but I’ll admit I missed the Valiant wave in the 1990s as I was a strange DC Comics purist at the time. From the description, Gilad sounds like a departure from Drax, which is something Bautista definitely needs to consider going forward. Also, I have read at least one Archer & Armstrong volume in recent years and enjoy the way Valiant plays with the ancient past. Hopefully, it all comes together in way that highlight’s Bautista’s strengths on film.
