Although he ultimately passed on a role in The Suicide Squad in favour of working with Zack Snyder on Army of the Dead, Dave Bautista is set to reunite with director James Gunn this year as he reprises the role of Drax for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and based on the latest comments from Bautista, that may well be the final time we see him as the Destroyer.
“I don’t know what the script of the third film is, to be honest with you,” Bautista told Digital Spy during promotion for Army of the Dead. “There was a script years ago that obviously is going to have to change because the whole direction of the Marvel universe has changed. There were talks for a while about a Drax and Mantis film… I don’t think they’re very interested, or it doesn’t fit into the way they have things mapped out. But other than that, no. I mean, as far as my obligations, I’ve got Guardians 3, and that’s probably going to be the end of Drax.”
Bautista subsequently took to social media to clarify that he wasn’t revealing some major spoiler about the fate of Drax, but rather that he feels he’s getting too old to continue portraying the character.
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
If Guardians Vol. 3 is to be Bautista’s final turn as Drax, then at least we still have a few more appearances to look forward to, as he is set to feature alongside his fellow Guardians in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder as well as Gunn’s Disney+ special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which will shoot alongside the third Guardians movie.
