The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest Disney Plus effort boasts perhaps the single most stacked ensemble in the franchise’s history, which is no mean feat when you consider the names present during Avengers: Endgame‘s funeral sequence. Over 50 past and present stars are on board for Marvel’s What If…?, but there’s more than a few major absentees.
Some heavy hitters are missing, including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Tom Holland, despite all of their respective characters playing big roles. The Guardians of the Galaxy riff with T’Challa becoming Star-Lord at the expense of Peter Quill features almost every star playing their animated counterpart, except Dave Bautista’s Drax.
When a fan asked why he wasn’t voicing the Destroyer in What If…?, Bautista responded by saying nobody had asked him to, something that even left James Gunn incredulous. In a new interview, executive producer Brad Winderbaum addressed the situation, and naturally tried to keep things as diplomatic as possible.
“I saw that, too. It’s my understanding that everybody was asked in some way, shape or form, either through their agents or directly. I don’t know really what happened behind the scenes there, but certainly, we would have loved for him to be in the show. So there’s probably some miscommunication somewhere.”
The episode in question sees Karen Gillan, Djimon Honsou, Michael Rooker, Benicio del Toro, Seth Green, Sean Gunn, Chris Sullivan, Ophelia Lovibond, Kurt Russell, and more as the comic book favorites they brought to life in the Guardians of the Galaxy duology. Which only makes Bautista’s absence all the more notable when Drax and T’Challa interact directly with each other.
Obviously, a lot of MCU alumni are incredibly busy people that might not have had the time to make room in their respective schedules, but Bautista made it clear he wasn’t even afforded the opportunity. Maybe Disney will convince him to drop by whenever the second season of Marvel’s What If…? eventually arrives, even if his retirement as Drax is imminent.
