Drax the Destroyer actor Dave Bautista is ready to move on from his role as the wisecracking alien superhero. After a successful professional wrestling career, the former WWE star began exploring a new career option, acting, which has been bringing him more attention.
His most recent appearance is in the hit film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. In that film, he worked as part of an ensemble cast with acting talents, including Ed Norton, Kate Hudson, and Daniel Craig.
Now, Bautista will have a prominent role as one of the lead characters in the 2023 M. Night Shyamalan thriller, Knock at the Cabin.
Before either of these roles, he became best known as the humorous character Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in multiple films and a Disney Plus special as the character.
Despite the popularity of Bautista as Drax, he recently spoke out about exiting the MCU, referring to the role as “silly” and hard to play.
He also commented on why he no longer wants to portray the comic book superhero, and instead wants to do other things with his career.
Dave Bautista refers to Drax role as ‘silly’ ahead of MCU exit
In a recent interview, Bautista told GQ how portraying the alien superhero for Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers films was taking its toll on him and building an acting legacy that he wanted to go differently.
“I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over],” the 53-year-old Bautista said. “It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down.
“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,” he added.
He went on to say he “could give a f**k” about being famous or having the spotlight. For him, it’s more about improving himself as an actor and excelling at the craft. He even felt he could’ve done more as far as Drax in the MCU.
Bautista said they ‘missed the ball’ with MCU character
In talking to Collider in 2021, Bautista spoke about how he felt Marvel, and those behind his GOTG character should’ve “invested more” into the character.
“They had their slate, I know what they’re focused on, that’s what they have [it] slated out. But man, I think they really missed the ball on Drax. He has such a great backstory,” he said.
As mentioned, Bautista has been the star of multiple films within the MCU. He first arrived in James Gunn’s first installment of Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 and continued with the role in the 2017 sequel and 2018’s Avengers Infinity War. Bautista then returned for Avengers Endgame in 2019 and Thor: Love and Thunder last year.
Along with that, was his appearance in a Disney+ GOTG special, which rated highly on Rotten Tomatoes and included star actor Kevin Bacon along with Bautista’s previous co-stars.
The GOTG and Avengers movies have also received high praise, but Bautista has ensured he took other roles along the way. Among the critically-acclaimed films he’s appeared in are Blade Runner: 2049 and the Oscar-nominated Dune. Glass Onion could be the next to receive an Academy Award nod, based on Golden Globes nominees.
When is Dave Bautista’s last appearance as Drax?
With multiple MCU movies and the D+ special on his acting resume, Bautista is officially ready to exit as Drax the Destroyer. That could hint at what’s to come in his next appearance, depending on how the movie goes.
He’ll appear in 2023’s Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the end of Gunn’s trilogy of GOTG movies in the MCU. With that, Bautista is expected to leave his role behind. A Variety report even refers to it as his “swan song as Drax the Destroyer.”
Whether that means he will never appear in any other Marvel movies or series on D+ remains to be seen, based on what happens in GOTG 3.
No matter what happens, the door is likely always open for him to return in some capacity, and Marvel fans would probably be all for it.
Fans can now catch Dave Bautista in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery streaming on Netflix or in theaters. His next film, Knock at the Cabin, hits theaters on February 3, 2023.