The actor didn't hold back while dishing out his disappointment in Marvel for not expanding his supporting character arc.
Even though he has yet to read the script for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3', Dave Bautista wishes Drax had had more of a central role in the superhero franchise. Who knows, maybe it will happen in movie three?
While Drax the Destroyer is a main part of the Guardians team, it's true that his character is predominantly used for awkward humour and brash action pieces. Nevertheless, we did get some backstory on the character during the first two 'Guardians' movies, knowing that in the first movie he is seeking revenge against Ronan for the death of his family; while in 'Avengers: Infinity War' he's all guns blazing for Thanos.
In the comics, Drax is actually a human whose spirit is placed into a more powerful body. Naturally, there have been various storylines for the character through the years, but his main one is that he's hellbent on killing Thanos for murdering his wife and kidnapping his daughter. When Captain Marvel does the job for him, he turns to attacking her.
Of course, none of this was truly explored in the MCU version of the character, and it seems we may never get his full backstory in any upcoming movies. Bautista has confirmed that 'Guardians 3' will be his final outing as Drax.
Speaking with Collider ahead of his Zach Snyder zombie movie arriving on Netflix next week, 'Army of the Dead', Dave made clear his disappointment at the character not living to their full potential. He said: "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. 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."
Dave Bautista will join the rest of the returning 'Guardians' cast for their first table read of the third instalment this November. 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' has a release date of May 5, 2023.