For years, Dave Bautista, known simply as Batista during his time in the WWE, has been campaigning to get a role in the Gears of War movie. While Batista has yet to be cast in the Gears of War movie, the Guardians of the Galaxy star and former WWE Champion will have a role in the upcoming Gears 5 video game. As announced by Batista on Twitter, "The Animal" is coming to Gears 5 as a playable character on September 15.
While Batista is no longer an active member of the WWE roster, his appearance in Gears 5 does appear to be some sort of crossover between the game and the professional wrestling company. This is evidenced by "Bautista" being spelled "Batista" in the announcement video, and the fact that he will be added to the game on September 15 after the WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view ends.
Unfortunately, it's unclear exactly what role Batista will play in Gears 5. We can rule out that he will be in the campaign mode, which leaves him available for multiplayer, Horde, and Escape. It's possible that he will strictly be a multiplayer character, but there's also a chance that he will be a Horde or Escape character, complete with his own passive ability and Ultimate.
Batista is just the latest guest character added to Gears 5. Previously, it was confirmed that The Terminator would be in Gears 5, with Sarah Connor in tow. In the game, Sarah Connor represents the COG side of multiplayer, whereas the T-800 model Terminator is on the Swarm team. Since those characters are included to promote the Terminator: Dark Fate film, it makes sense that Batista's inclusion is meant to promote the WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view.
At Gamescom, even more guest characters were announced for Gears 5. It was at that event where we learned that some Halo: Reach Spartans would be in Gears 5, in the form of Emile-A239 and Kat-B320. Better yet, the original voice actors for Emile and Kat are reprising their roles for Gears 5.
If these crossover promotions prove to be successful, then we can't rule out the possibility of even more guest characters coming to Gears 5 in future updates.
Gears 5Â launches on September 10 for PC and Xbox One.