Netflix's Gears of War Movie Plot Reveal Leaves Us With A Major Casting

Your next big video game adaptation could soon be on the way, and hopefully, Netflix can continue to laugh in the face of the 'video game movie curse' with its long-awaited take on Gears of War. Back in the day, video game movies were often bargain basement offerings like Uwe Boll's House of the Dead or the Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson-led Doom. It was (bizarrely) 2019's Detective Pikachu that bucked the trend that video game movies can be good, and since then, we've enjoyed the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. More than this, there have been even more acclaimed TV series like HBO's The Last of Us and Amazon's Fallout.

Now, Netflix has finally given us an update on its Gears of War movie, but seemingly nixed the idea of a popular fan casting when it comes to playing Marcus Fenix.

Gears of War Movie Plot Confirms It's An Origin Story

Xbox Game Studios

As revealed by Entertainment Weekly, Netflix's Gears of War movie is now confirmed as a Delta Squad origin movie. Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train's David Leitch was already confirmed as director, with the official description explaining how this will serve as "the origin story of Delta Squad, a ragtag crew of soldiers who wage a desperate war for survival against the Locust, a race of subterranean creatures set on destroying humanity."

The hype train continued to roll into town when Matt Booty, Xbox's Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, promoted Gears of War: E-Day and added, "The game really is about the bonds between teams. It's about brotherhood at its core.

"When you go visit the studio, their tagline is 'Never Fight Alone.' So when you think about that for a dramatic narrative, it's a pretty good starting point."

There's no news on casting, but with Gears of War having some 20 years of loyal fans behind it, expect a host of Hollywood stars to line up and audition. After all, if The Last of Us can nab Pedro Pascal and The Super Mario Bros. Movie gets Chris Pratt, Gears of War should have its pick of the A-listers. Sadly, the fact that this is an origin story seemingly counts out the fan-favourite casting of Dave Bautista.

READ MORE: Gears of War E-Day Pre-Order Guide: Everything Included In Each Version

Bye Bye Bautista

Microsoft

Few have had a career trajectory quite like Dave Bautista, going from WWE wrestler to starring in James Bond movies, Blade Runner, and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy. More than just fans cheering the beefy star as the 'perfect' Marcus Fenix, Bautista himself has lobbied hard for the role. New Line Cinema bought the rights to a Gears movie all the way back in 2007, but as you might've noticed, it's remained trapped in development hell. With so many years to mull over the idea, Bautista posted a tweet in 2019, saying he'd tried 'everything' to nab himself the role of Marcus Fenix.

When Netflix's adaptation was announced, Bautista reshared footage of him from a Gears 5 promo where he was announced as a DLC character and simply added, "I can’t make this any easier," while using the hashtag #MarcusFenix and tagging both the official Gears of War X account and Netflix.

In 2025, he spoke to Comicbook.com and told fans to petition Netflix for his casting, telling the enthusiastic fandom, "Start an online thing about freaking Gears of War. Come on, Netflix. Come on, already. It’s not like I’m not badgering them. Come on, Netflix. Get it together."

This fan casting also has the support of Gears creator Cliff Bleszinski, who in 2022, posted: "Oh and yes, Bautista as Marcus please – and a Latino actor for Dom, dammit."

Still, with Gears of War: E-Day being an origin story itself, it makes sense for Netflix to tie things together and drum up interest in both projects by telling us what went down during Marcus and Dom's first fight with the Locust Horde.

Gears of War: E-Day will be released on 6 August 2026 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.