Dave Bautista Has Some Regrets About Playing Drax in the MCU

Everyone loves Drax the Destroyer, the brash and impulsive Kylosian member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Drax doesn’t understand metaphor! He’s literally bulletproof! He’s the steamrolling, uninhibited fighter we all wish we could be sometimes.

Despite his traumatic past, though—he lost his entire family when the Kree warlord Ronan attacked his planet—Drax is one of the least fleshed-out characters in Guardians of the Galaxy. He mainly provides comic relief, like thinking he’s invisible when he moves slowly, believing a candy cane is a kind of little man, or chucking a ball at a kid’s head in the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Now Bautista has revealed that he has some significant regrets about his time playing Drax.

“I’m so grateful for Drax,” Bautista recently told GQ. “I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy—it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”

Although Drax is a lot of fun, Bautista raises a good point. Comic relief characters are great, but it could certainly be frustrating to see your character relegated to the butt of jokes again and again—especially while the characters around him gain new depth and maturity. Add a few hours a day in the makeup chair to the mix, and it’s understandable that Bautista is ready to move on.

Bautista also told GQ how important it is to hone his acting skills. Bautista started his performing arts career as a pro wrestler for WWE, but according to the interview, his goal was always to become an actor. “I never wanted to be the next Rock,” Bautista said. “I just want to be a good fucking actor. A respected actor.”

Related: The 61 celebrities who have played themselves in the MCU on We Got This Covered

Luckily, Bautista has a world of options open to him. He recently played Duke Cody in Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion (although it must be said that Duke isn’t exactly Drax’s polar opposite). He stars as Leonard in M. Knight Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin, coming out in February, and in November he’ll reprise the role of Glossu Rabban Harkonnen in Dune Part 2.

All of us Marvel fans will be crying when the Guardians fly off into the sunset in May, but we can’t wait to see what Bautista gets up to next.

(featured image: Marvel Studios)