So What’s the Deal With Dave Bautista, Drax, and the Future of the Guardians of the Galaxy?

Dave Bautista has been playing Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2014. The wrestler-turned-actor brought life to the character that made him lovable in his quest for vengeance against Thanos and made many of us care about Drax the Destroyer in a way we might not have before. But now that we’re three movies into the Guardians of the Galaxy series (with appearances in both Infinity War and Endgame), where does that leave Bautista? Well, probably not returning as Drax after Vol. 3.

The thing is: Bautista is currently 52 years old. And while that worked for Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Drax the Destroyer is a bit more of a physical challenge. So Bautista took to Twitter to share that he probably won’t be playing Drax after this.

Drax isn’t going anywhere. He just won’t be played by this dude! 🤷🏻‍♂️by the time G3 comes out I’ll be 54 yrs old for gods sake! 😱 im expecting everything to start sagging any second now. 😂 https://t.co/eRJR6ZPtE2

— The Artist Formerly Known as Super Duper Dave (@DaveBautista) May 8, 2021

It’s nice to see how honest Bautista is about this stuff. There are so many factors leading into these movies, and we so constantly have a “oh, is so and so leaving” conversation with only rumors to go on that Bautista just being honest on Twitter is a nice change of pace.

Director James Gunn responded to Bautista talking about Drax the Destroyer with his own message of support for whatever Dave Bautista wanted to do, but that his Drax would always be the one that Bautista brought to life.

There’s no Drax for me without you, buddy! You ARE the MCU’s Drax the Destroyer and, as far as I’m concerned, could never be replaced. And you have the right to do whatever you want with your acting choices! ❤️ @DaveBautista https://t.co/Mn5uNRVUvN

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 8, 2021

And then Gunn followed up by answering a question about whether or not he would return for more stories about the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Me? Never say never but I see Vol 3 as the end of the Guardians’ story I started telling back with Vol 1. https://t.co/q6iuqWoSgQ

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 8, 2021

I like that we got this bit of clarification. For a while, people thought that Gunn’s comments meant that he was done directing the Guardians movies after three because he kept talking about the storyline being a trilogy. But knowing that he just meant that he saw this arc as a trilogy, but that he’d potentially come back for another installment to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, is exciting.

So what does the future hold for the Guardians of the Galaxy? Who is to say? At least we know where Bautista currently stands and that James Gunn isn’t completely ready to be finished with the Guardians.

(via ScreenRant, image: Marvel Entertainment)

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