Dave Bautista Hints 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' Will Be His Last
Guardians of the Galaxy was a very strange entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With previous films focusing on well known Marvel characters, it seemed an odd choice to focus on lesser know characters. The group we see in the film series is actually not the original group from the comics.
Having said that, fans loved the first film when it came out. It came with a great degree of humor and the characters seemed to have been perfectly cast, especially Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, and there was a lot of great chemistry between the actors.
Now, after a very long wait and a lot of turmoil, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 has finally been given its official logo and a release date of May 5, 2023. Still a long way to go, but at least we now know it is still officially happening and that we will see James Gunn, director of the first two films, return to direct the third installment, much to the delight of fans.
The third film will reunite Star Lord, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and Mantis, with it being confirmed Gamora will also rejoin the group. (Can't wait to see how this works out.) However, Gunn has recently teased that this will likely be his final installment to the franchise and conclude his story arc for the team. We hadn't heard anything from the group themselves, until now.
During an interview with Digital Spy Magazine, Bautista himself hinted that Vol.3 will likely be his last outing as fan favourite Drax. He stated this upcoming film will see an end to his obligations to Marvel Studios, suggesting that this will, potentially, be his final appearance. He said:
"I mean, as far as my obligations, I've got Guardians 3, and that's probably going to be the end of Drax."
This seems to make it pretty clear that he's done after this film. Having said that, though, both Chris Evans (Captain America) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) had contracts end before renewing them to appear in other films within the MCU, so it's not necessarily a conclusive answer.
Bautista has received no end of praise from Marvel fans for his portrayal of Drax, specifically for his improvised "Why is Gamora?" line from Avengers: Infinity War and the scene in which he believes himself to be invisible, the latter of which has been the center of countless memes shared over the internet. As we have still yet to hear from the other members of the team, it is possible that the threequel could just see an end to his character alone. The motivation for him joining the team in the first place was to avenge his wife and daughter, who were killed by Thanos, and he has now done this, effectively bringing his main story arc to an end.
It's long been rumored that the third film will see a main member of the team die, so it is more than possible that it could be him. It's possible we could see Drax sacrifice himself to the next big bad to save the team, which would be a fitting end in line with his character.
As stated above, we still have a good bit of time to go before the third film comes out, so there's speculation for a lot of changes yet to come. In the meantime, the whole team will be back in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder and their own Holiday Special in late 2022. Maybe we will see the beginnings of an arc hinting at what's in store for them going into Vol.3.
You can see Bautista next in Army of the Dead, the new zombie film by director Zack Snyder, due for release May 14.
As always, we shall keep you posted on more information as it becomes available.
Until next time!
Source(s): The Direct