Dave Bautista has never shied away from sharing what he really thinks. When James Gunn was temporarily fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the star blasted Marvel over the decision and said he’d break his contract if they didn’t bring him back. Since Gunn was eventually rehired, the former WWE legend has been on smoother ground with the studio, but Bautista has now opened up on his mixed feelings about the evolution of Drax the Destroyer, revealing that he thinks Marvel dropped the ball with the character.
While speaking to Collider, the actor explained at length why he has some grievances with where Drax’s journey has taken him across the four films in which he played the role so far. Chiefly, he feels that the hero has become too comedic and the fascinating tragedy of his backstory – his family was murdered by Ronan the Accuser – has been lost in the mix. Not to mention that he hasn’t really lived up to the “Destroyer” part of his name.
Here’s how Bautista put it:
“That role changed the trajectory of my life. It’s always going to be special to me. Now that I’m four films in…I really wished they would have invested more in Drax, personally. Because I think Drax has more of a story to tell. I think Drax has a really interesting backstory which they dropped the ball on. That’s no dig on Marvel. They had their slate, I know what they’re focused on, that’s what they have slated out. But man, I think they really missed the ball on Drax. He has such a great backstory. Selfishly, as a performer, that would have given me the opportunity to show different sides of Drax, emotionally. And physically as well. Because, if you notice, Drax, although he looks like a badass, you look at him and he looks terrifying, but Drax gets his ass kicked more than any other Marvel character…The whole “Destroyer” thing they just threw that out the window…people just fell so in love with the comedic side of Drax they tapped into that, then they tapped into it more, then they really dug a hole into it. But we missed a huge boat on that character and I don’t think it’ll ever come back around. But I’m really just looking forward to finishing out this whole journey.”
It’s hard to disagree with anything the actor says here. While he was a formidable and tragic presence in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, the huge affection fans had for the character caused James Gunn and, later, the team behind the Avengers films to focus on Drax’s lack of subtlety and the unique way his mind works – like his belief that he’s invisible. Bautista’s managed to generate a lot of belly laughs over the years, but maybe not bring tears to our eyes or wow us in an action sequence as much as he – or we – would like.
The actor will be back as Drax in Guardians 3, but it doesn’t sound like we can expect much more of his backstory to be explored in the threequel, which maybe dashes hopes that his daughter Moondragon will show up. And this is apparently it for the star in the MCU, as Bautista doesn’t think he’ll return beyond that movie.
A Drax and Mantis film has been discussed, but it’s apparently been shelved, and while Drax means a lot to him, it sounds like the actor is ready to move on to fresh roles and experiences, like Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, which hits Netflix this Friday, May 14th.