Dave Bautista has said that he is “relieved” to be leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe when his character Drax leaves in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 later this year.
The wrestler-turned-actor was most recently seen in Netflix’s Glass Onion, for which he got a lot of praise. Next month, he will be in M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin.
But Dave Bautista is probably best known for his role as Drax, which he played for almost a decade. He first played Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy, which came out in 2014.
Now that he’s about to say goodbye to Drax for good, Bautista said that he’s happy to do so because he wants to play bigger, more dramatic roles.
He said,
I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. 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.
Bautista has said in the past that he thought Marvel could have done more with the character of Drax and that they “dropped the ball.”
When he talked in an interview last year, he said:
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.
In May, Bautista posted on Instagram to say that his character’s story was coming to an end:
Haven’t found the words yet. It ended so suddenly and I was on to my next film before I could process it all. End of a journey that changed my life.
He said that he didn’t “give a f**k” about being a big movie star or “living a glamorous life,” but that he’d love to become a “better actor” and earn the respect of his peers.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes out in May and will be Drax’s last movie. If you can’t wait that long to see Bautista in action, Knock at the Cabin comes out on February 3 and stars him.
