Dave Bautista Confirms ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Ends His Run As Drax

Dave Bautista is done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe!

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Dave Bautista has confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is his last time playing Drax the Destroyer.

GQ recently spoke to Dave Bautista to promote the release of his new Netflix movie Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, which sees the wrestler-turned-actor playing a controversial video game streamer and men’s rights activist. During his interview with the magazine, Bautista spoke about his time in Hollywood and his future as an actor.

This year, Dave Bautista is starring in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, but he is also reprising his role as Drax the Destroyer in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The latest Guardians feature marks his final turn as Drax, a character he has played for nearly a decade in seven different projects.

“I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over],” Bautista told GQ. “It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy — it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”

Dave Bautista believes Cabin is a step in the right direction now that he’s done as Drax. “It’s by far the most I’ve ever spoken in a film. Just huge pages of monologues,” Bautista teased. “We were shooting on film, which is very expensive. And we were shooting with one camera, so you don’t have the luxury of edits. It’s your only opportunity — you need a perfect take. It’s a lot of pressure. I want to remember my dialogue, but not at the expense of losing the emotion of the scene.”

When do the Guardians of the Galaxy return?

The recent Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney Plus saw Drax and Mantis teaming up to kidnap Kevin Bacon so that the celebrity could cheer-up Peter Quill, a.k.a Star-Lord. All the Guardians are set to return in Vol. 3, which is currently slated to hit theaters on May 5, 2023.

Written and directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 also stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone, Will Poulter, Chukwudi Iwuji and Maria Bakalova.

Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy series and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!

Michael Bezanidis

Michael Bezanidis

Michael is the Managing Editor of Heroic Hollywood. When he's not playing video games, he's usually writing about film and television.