James Gunn laments a missed opportunity for Dave Bautista’s Drax
When it comes to adapting Marvel comics, there are so many avenues to go down that you are always going to find that you cannot get everything that you want. There are variants of characters, different timelines, and crossovers, there is no way that more than half a century of comics is going to make its way onto the screen, a fact that James Gunn laments when it comes to the character of Drax.
In the history of the character, it would appear that Drax the Destroyer, one of the strongest members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, had a fondness for the saxophone. In the comics, he often takes to entertain the other members of the team with his musical skills, and for those fans who were aware of this hidden talent of his, many were hoping it would make an appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. This was a stretch though, and unfortunately never came to be, something that even the director himself.
In response to a fan feeling saddened by the lack of saxophone in the film, Gunn responded “I know, @DaveBautista has been taking sax lessons for ten years all to no avail.”
It is a shame indeed, especially given the fact that his saxophone playing abilities have aided in saving the universe in print. In the 2018 Marvel comic storyline “Infinity Countdown”, the Guardians must get ahold of the Power Stone, but soon realize they are being overwhelmed, to go down fighting and in style, Star-Lord asks Drax to play them one last banger on the sax. Star-Lord somehow manages to obtain the stone and throws it into the Sax turning the funky beat into something a lot more malevolent.
But alas, we shall never see this adapted into live action, and so an opportunity was lost. You can catch a non-saxophone playing Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in theatres now.
