Drax had a grudge against Thanos way before it was cool, and in Avengers: Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy regular had a couple of chances to seek vengeance on the Mad Titan, albeit always as part of a group. But as this recently shared keyframe illustration indicates, an early script even gave Dave Bautista’s character the opportunity to settle the score in a one-on-one confrontation. We wouldn’t have put our money on Drax, mind you.
Concept artist Rodney Fuentebella took to Instagram with an image of Thanos looming over the Destroyer, looking ready to do a little destroying himself. The illustrator accompanied the picture with a short explanation:
“Here is a key frame illustration I did for Avengers Infinity War! This was an early keyframe from an early script with Thanos and Drax about to battle! Enjoy!”
What’s notable about this art is that Thanos is seen in full armor, suggesting that either this fight was planned to happen very early in the movie, or more likely, the idea hadn’t been settled on yet that the tyrant would shed most of his armor after getting his first couple of Infinity Stones. Indeed, the recently released Infinity War artbook indicates that the villain went through quite a few designs in the lead-up to production, with some concept art indicating that he might have even gone shirtless for parts of the movie.
As for Drax, though he ultimately fell victim to the Mad Titan’s dusting of the universe, Bautista has already revealed that he’ll be back in next year’s Avengers 4. Beyond that, however, the character’s future remains uncertain, with Bautista previously hinting that he might not return for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in light of the controversial firing of director James Gunn.
But regardless of whether Drax still has a place in Marvel’s Phase 4, we can at least find out whether he’ll finally be getting his revenge on Thanos when the sequel to Avengers: Infinity War comes out on May 3rd, 2019.
Published: Nov 16, 2018 10:20 am