No one supported director James Gunn after his firing from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 more than Dave Bautista. Throughout the messy affair, which ended with Gunn eventually being brought back, the Drax the Destroyer actor was constantly in the headlines standing alongside his friend – be it threatening to leave the franchise, or constantly berating Disney’s “rash” decision.
But now that the whole ordeal’s over, and the latest film seems to have gotten back on track, Bautista’s relationship with the House of Mouse has apparently calmed down quite a bit. In a recent interview with Pro Wrestling Sheet, he took a minute to reflect on the whole affair, and also shed some light on the patience and sympathy he received from studio workers.
“I hope it’s good. I never actually talked to anybody from Disney. I only ever talk to people from Marvel. And they were very understanding about the way I felt.”
“I got people who are very understanding of where I stood. A lot of them just weren’t outspoken about it. And I just happened to be very outspoken about the way I felt.”
“James [Gunn] is my friend. I love him. He helped change my life and I know he’s a decent person. He was being attacked. And what do you do when your friends are being attacked? You defend them, or you’re not really a friend.”
The extent of the actor’s loyalty has never been questioned throughout this process. And his continuing support of Gunn indicates a lot about his character. But that part of his personality also revealed itself when he spoke about the time he accidentally spoiled some of Avengers: Endgame.
“I got a little grief for this which I felt horrible for. But you’re really kept in the dark for a lot of Marvel stuff, but for Infinity War and Endgame in particular you’re just really kept in the dark. I didn’t know how Infinity War ended. I had no idea. We shot all our stuff out of sequence, bits and pieces, so I was never privy to scripts. We shot it a little over a year straight, both Infinity War and Endgame, so I didn’t know which parts were gonna be in which movies. I was just really lost. But as we started doing press for Infinity War, I had been talking to the press openly about my work schedule and that I’d been filming for a year on both these films, not knowing how the first film was going to end and that we were going to disintegrate.”
“I actually had a discussion with the Russo brothers, because all they saw was that headline: ‘Dave Bautista’s Giving Spoilers For Endgame.’ And I wasn’t at all. I was just talking very openly about my work schedule and that was before I knew that I was gonna be turned into dust!”
Bautista certainly seems to be an honest, and outspoken man. And his frustration and confusion over that mini scandal, as well as Marvel’s code of secrecy, isn’t something every comic book actor talks about.
Though it may be a while before we see Drax and Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, you can catch the former wrestling star in the R-rated comedy Stuber next month.
