Marvel fans all over the world are ready for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. The two blockbuster films are set to act as a double-conclusion to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse Saga, as the titular team of heroes will unite for the first time in over six years to take on the infamous Doctor Doom - a being so powerful that he is threatening the existence of the entire Multiverse.
As with the previous Avengers double-header, the films are expected to be game-changing phenomenons that will tie up the current saga's storyline and bring back some familiar faces while they are at it. And there are some major faces confirmed to return, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Anthony Mackie, Chris Evans, Tom Holland, and Hayley Atwell all expected to once again make their presences felt on the franchise in the very near future, while the film series' original hero Robert Downey Jr. returns as new villain Doctor Doom.
However, one Marvel star has essentially confirmed that they won't be back for the upcoming movies.
Dave Bautista is done playing Drax in the MCU (unless James Gunn asks him to)
Guardians of the Galaxy star and WWE legend Dave Bautista has confirmed that he is done with the character of Drax, for now at least. Speaking to ComicBook.com, he said that he thought the character "ran its course" and that he is "completely closed to me". He did, however, leave the door open to potentially return to the role under one condition: If James Gunn asked him to.
"Drax is completely closed to me. Unless James Gunn called me and asked if I would do something as Drax again, I just wouldn’t be interested... If James called me, which obviously is not gonna happen. He’s doing okay, he’s gone a different route."
Bautista is right when he points out how unlikely that is right now, as Gunn is currently co-CEO and chairman of DC Studios (along with Peter Safran), overseeing the creation of the new DC Universe. That began with animated series Creature Commandos and it fully kicks into gear with this summer's Superman, which Gunn himself directed.
That officially rules Drax out of a return in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars as Gunn will have no involvement in any of those projects due to his full-time job at DC. The director wrapped his iconic Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy with the third and final installment in 2023, but Drax wasn't written off in a way that he couldn't return, so the vast majority of MCU fans are expecting - and hoping - to see him again in the near-future. It just unfortunately won't be in the two upcoming Avengers movies, and that may rule out any involvement of the new Guardians of the Galaxy (who were formed in the ending scene of Vol. 3).
Bautista first joined the MCU in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy and reprised the role in its two sequels in 2017 and 2023. He also collaborated with Gunn again for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in 2022, and reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame - the only two projects he appeared in that Gunn was not involved in.
He doesn't rule out a return to the world of superheroes, potentially even another appearance in the MCU (possibly even those Avengers movies), adding that it just wouldn't be as the Drax character.
"I do wanna be in that world, I’m a fan of that world, I’m a fan of comic books and that whole universe... Marvel, DC, I just wanna be in it. I made that known to James, I made that known to the Russo brothers. Personally, I talked to them, all of them, and told them, ‘Don’t count me out. If there’s a character that I’d be right for and that you want me for, man, I’d be totally open-minded to it.’ It’s just the Drax character ran its course."
The star has revealed in the past that he would love to play Bane in a live-action movie and, with Gunn now in charge of the DC Universe (and also revealing that he will ideally be working with his Guardians friends in the DCU), there is a chance that this could happen, especially with a Bane and Deathstroke movie in the works.
Bautista's career has gone from strength-to-strength since he made his presence felt on Hollywood after his full-time career in WWE came to an end (though he still returned to the ring on multiple occasions). His performance as Drax was widely praised by fans who appreciated his comedic timing and straight delivery of ridiculously hilarious one-liners.