One thing has become abundantly clear reading interview with Dave Bautista for Army of the Dead: he is so ready to leave Marvel and his role as Drax behind. That’s unfortunate for those of us who love him as the quiet destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy, but Bautista has already said this would be his last time in the role and it’s obvious it can’t come fast enough.
Bautista reiterated this to Collider, saying he’s “looking forward to finishing out this journey.” Part of the reason is that he feels Drax has been reduced from the “Destroyer” aspect of his personality to become more of a comic relief character, and I personally think that’s tough to dispute. He also says Drax’s whole backstory was left unexplored.
“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,” Bautista said.
He added, “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.”
I believe that Drax has fallen victim to the “Wolverine-ization” that afflicts some characters. Because Drax is pretty indestructible, it becomes easy to make him endure more pain than the others, who aren’t as resilient. The question I have is why he blames Marvel for this and not his friend, writer/director James Gunn.
Anyway, Bautista continued to display his disinterest in sticking around with Marvel in an interview with USA Today, saying that he’s basically coasting through this next movie…
“Well, I’m looking forward to being back with my friends. I like the camaraderie. I’m in a weird place with Drax because I’ve played Drax so many times, I’m on cruise control.”
Bautista adds that getting into the Drax character, such as the makeup aspect, are more of a problem for him now that he’s older, and again makes it clear how ready he is to put this all behind…
“I love the character, but getting in the makeup, it’s just a nightmare. I couldn’t explain how awful it is. I hate to sound like one of those high-maintenance actors, but it’s just traumatizing,” Bautista admitted. “Once I’m in it and I’m on set with my friends and making this character come to life and interacting with these characters that I love so much as a fan, it’s all fun and joy.”
“Throughout the years, maybe because I’ve gotten older and more sensitive to it, it’s become more unbearable, but the one thing I’m just looking forward is closing out this journey of Drax.”
It looks as if more movies with Zack Snyder and other filmmakers will take priority for Bautista from now on. He can be seen in select theaters in Army of the Dead right now, followed by Netflix next weekend. He also recently joined the cast of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out 2. As for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it arrives on May 5th 2023.
