Dave Bautista Claims Marvel Dropped the Ball on Drax's MCU Story

Marvel Studios is going full-speed ahead with production on numerous movies and TV shows for the next two years, including sequels like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Director James Gunn will move back to Marvel after releasing The Suicide Squad for the DCEU, turning Marvel's successful cosmic movie duo into a full-blown trilogy.

The Guardians' threequel has been quite prominent in the news streams recently, especially after Marvel confirmed that it will officially release in theaters on May 5, 2023.

In terms of specific characters, Dave Bautista's Drax has been the subject of numerous articles over the past few days with rumors that this may be his last film in the franchise. It's unclear whether the rumors of a recasting for Drax are true, but the alien warrior will certainly play a key role in the team's next adventure as he returns to the MCU.

However, even with this success, Bautista recently revealed some of his personal disappointments with his Marvel character's storyline...

DAVE BAUTISTA ON MARVEL DROPPING THE BALL

Marvel

Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista spoke to Collider about some opportunities he and Marvel Studios have missed with Drax the Destroyer throughout the MCU.

While Bautista admitted that the role is "always going to be special," he wishes Marvel had "invested more in Drax" over the last few years.

He commented on how "Drax has a really interesting backstory" which the studio may have "dropped the ball on," although he made it clear that it isn't a shot at Marvel due to how jam-packed its slate of movies is:

"That role changed the trajectory of my life. It's always going to be special to me. Now that I’m four films in... I really wished they would have invested more in Drax, personally. Because I think Drax has more of a story to tell. I think Drax has a really interesting backstory which they dropped the ball on. That’s no dig on Marvel. They had their slate, I know what they’re focused on, that’s what they have slated out. But man, I think they really missed the ball on Drax. He has such a great backstory. Selfishly, as a performer, that would have given me the opportunity to show different sides of Drax, emotionally."

Bautista touched on the physical side of the character, noting how "Drax gets his ass kicked more than any other Marvel character" and doesn't get to live up to "the whole 'Destroyer' thing" that was initially set up. Fans seemed to love "the comedic side of Drax," which could leave his intense side in the dust:

"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."

Even with this contention, Bautista is grateful for the incredible reception his franchise has received, especially since at first, "not a lot of people...even knew who the Guardians were."

Comparing his movies to the Star Wars franchise, he said he is "really excited to wrap up this whole journey" and close the series off with a bang:

"That’s a full journey. We started together, not a lot of people, unless you were seriously into comics, even knew who the Guardians were. People were speculating, oh, a professional wrestler is playing Drax, is this gonna be the first Marvel movie to flop? It was a lot of that out until the film came out and people fell in love with it. These are not my words, I don’t want to get beaten up for this, but I’ve heard people say this is like the new Star Wars. People are going to look back on Guardians the way our generation looks back on Star Wars. Someone saying that, like that’s a bold statement. That hits me. It’s yet to be seen, but if I can have somebody feeling that way about Guardians the way I feel and look back on Star Wars, that’s a life worth living. That’s a legacy, man. 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."

BAUTISTA EXCITED TO CONTINUE AS DRAX

Even with all of Dave Bautista's points in this interview, the MCU star makes it clear that he's loved his time playing his role and is looking forward to continuing for as long as he can.

Drax has certainly become one of the funnier characters in the MCU due to his no-nonsense nature and inability to grasp puns and metaphors. However, he's proven himself to be one of the most intense fighters in the franchise, even if he hasn't gotten the same amount of screen time and backstory as other, more prominent heroes.

Fans are already looking forward to seeing how Drax's journey in the MCU will continue in his third solo movie, especially with the possibility that this may be his last MCU outing. Regardless of what happens, Bautista has made his impact known over the last seven years, and it will be great to see him have another successful run in theaters.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will debut in theaters on May 5, 2023.