Dave Bautista Thinks Marvel Dropped the Ball on Drax and He Gets His Ass Kicked More Than Any Other Marvel Character
Not long ago, Dave Bautista said that his run as Drax will come to an end after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. There’s always a chance that another actor to jump into the role, but Bautista has made it clear that he’s done after director James Gunn’s next Guardians movie.
In a recent interview with Collider, Bautista got critical of Marvel and shared his thoughts on how they treated his character. In fact, he thinks that they dropped the ball on Drax and his story:
"That role changed the trajectory of my life. It's always going to be special to me. Now I'm four films in... I really wish that they would have invested more in Drax, personally. Because I think Drax has more of a story to tell and I think Drax has got a really interesting backstory which they dropped the ball on. And that's no dig on Marvel. They had their slate, and I know what they're focused on, and that's what they have slated out. But man, I think they really missed the ball on Drax. He's got such a great backstory."
The actor went on to talk about how Drax gets his ass kicked more than any other Marvel character, and that they focused more on the character’s comedic side:
“Selfishly, as a performer, that would have given me the opportunity to show different sides of Drax, emotionally. And physically as well. Because, if you notice, Drax, although he looks like a badass, you look at him and he looks terrifying, but Drax gets his ass kicked more than any other Marvel character...The whole “Destroyer” thing they just threw that out the window...people just fell so in love with the comedic side of Drax they tapped into that, then they tapped into it more, then they really dug a hole into it. But we missed a huge boat on that character and I don’t think it’ll ever come back around. But I’m really just looking forward to finishing out this whole journey."
The actor continued, “I’m really excited to wrap up this whole journey with these guys. I love them. I love the Guardians cast like family. They know it. I think everybody knows that I’m pretty vocal about it."
With Bautista blaming Marvel, I wonder if they are telling director James Gunn what to do with the character, or if Gunn is part of the Marvel team that is making these decisions with the character. I’ll be honest, I’ve always thought they would do more with the character and his backstory. I’m surprised that they haven’t. Maybe we’ll get something in the next Guardians film.
The actor will next be seen in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, and he was recently cast in Rian Johnson's Knives Out 2. What do you think about what he had to say here about Drax’s role in the MCU?