Of all the many question marks currently lingering over Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (and believe us, there are a few), many are beginning to wonder if Dave Bautista will ever reprise the role of Drax the Destroyer.
He’s been the most outspoken of all Guardians of the Galaxy cast members (by quite some distance), and believes Disney made a grave mistake when they chose to part company with ousted director James Gunn late last month. The Mouse House is expected to stand by its decision, even in the face of public outcry.
And today, ShortList brings word of yet another twist to the tale; in his first interview since the whole debacle, Dave Bautista has threatened to quit Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 unless Marvel Studios sticks with the original spec script submitted by Gunn.
He’s of the belief that he’d be doing James Gunn a “disservice” by starring in the third and final installment of a trilogy that hasn’t received the blessing of the man responsible for creating said trilogy in the first place.
Nobody’s defending his tweets, but this was a smear campaign on a good man. I spoke to Chris Pratt the day after it happened and he’s a bit religious so he wanted time to pray and figure it out, but I was more like: f*ck this. This is bullshit. James is one of the kindest, most decent people I’ve met. Where I’m at right now is that if [Marvel] don’t use that script, then I’m going to ask them to release me from my contract, cut me out or recast me. I’d be doing James a disservice if I didn’t.
Neither Disney nor Marvel Studios has announced anything official when it comes to James Gunn’s inevitable replacement, but one would assume that he/she will want to tinker with the script. If that’s indeed the case, the Mouse House will be forced to work out a compromise between said director and Dave Bautista, who clearly has no intention of starring in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie that’s been written by someone other than James Gunn.
Disney is yet to respond to Bautista’s ultimatum, but we’ll be bringing you all the latest as this situation continues to develop.
