It’s no secret that Dave Bautista has coveted a role within the Gears of War franchise for a pretty long time. The multiple-time WWE Champion and actor has made it clear several times that he would have loved to play Gears main protagonist Marcus Fenix or other characters within the universe, but has never quite gotten the chance to be in the beloved franchise. That changed as Bautista recently announced that he would finally be coming to Gears 5.

Bautista announced his Gears 5 debut on September 3, 2019 on his personal Twitter with a small video of him finally taking up the COG armor. According to Bautista, players will be able to play as him in Gears 5 on September 15, immediately following the WWE Pay-Per-View event Clash of Champions. It is unknown if Bautista will be a character or simply playing himself in the game at this point. Either way, it’s a step in the right direction for the guy who has been interested in playing Marcus Fenix in a Gears movie or game since well before 2016.

It’s about damn time. Play as me in #Gears5 starting Sept 15 after @WWE Clash of Champions. @XBox @GearsofWar #DreamChaser pic.twitter.com/bCU4ZIjdw1

— Dave Bautista (@DaveBautista) September 3, 2019

Gears 5 is set to just ahead of Bautista’s debut, which will seemingly be in the game’s multiplayer modes. Bautista will join a short list of major stars who have held roles in the game, one being John DiMaggio (who has played Marcus Fenix in all of his appearances so far), and Ice-T, who voiced the character Griffin in Gears of War 3. With Gears 5 offering everything from an early ELEAGUE appearance to various new modes in this latest outing, it seems we have a lot to look forward to in the latest Gears of War game and the competitive scene that will be coming along with it.

Gears 5 will be out on Xbox One and Microsoft PC on September 6, 2019. As Bautista points out, "it's about damn time."