Dave Bautista And Zoe Saldana Are Not Coming Back To Marvel
Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana say their time with Marvel is at an end.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn’t just James Gunn’s swan song at Marvel. Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana are out as well. As Variety reports, the two actors have made it clear that won’t be reprising their MCU roles as Drax the Destroyer and Gamora anytime soon.
For Dave Bautista, it’s a question of typecasting. The actor has shown his range in everything from Blade Runner 2049 to the recent M. Night Shyamalan film Knock at the Cabin. But Drax, the role that turned the already famous wrestler into a famous actor, remains what Bautista is best known for, much to the star’s chagrin.
“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,” said Dave Bautista after assuring fans that he does love the character but feels like it’s time to move on. Zoe Saldana, on the other hand, is most likely leaving Marvel behind due to the overwhelming pressure of supporting two huge franchises.
Being a part of the Marvel Universe, with all its interconnecting parts and stories woven throughout various movie series, couldn’t have been an easy gig for Dave Bautista or Zoe Saldana. It was twice as trying for Saldana, however, given that she had to fulfill all her Marvel obligations while also giving 110 percent to James Cameron’s Avatar franchise. Given that Avatar is just ramping up after last year’s The Way of Water made all the money in the world, and the Guardians series is winding down following James Gunn’s departure, it only makes sense for Saldana to stick with the former and drop the latter.
While Marvel Studios might be hurting over the loss of Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana, at least they still have Star-Lord. Guardians of the Galaxy lead Chris Pratt has admitted that given the right circumstances, he is up to play Peter Quill again in the future. “Maybe down the road, if something makes sense, I would do it, but it would really have to check a lot of the right boxes,” said Pratt insisting that his continuing to play Star-Lord in the MCU is contingent on future filmmakers honoring the character as written by James Gunn.
Will Dave Bautista or Zoe Saldana ever take another superhero role? It’s hard to say. Zoe is extremely busy with several upcoming projects, including Avatar 4 and 5 (Avatar 3 has already been filmed and is currently in post-production), making it unlikely she’ll be jumping back into the world of capes and tights anytime soon.
Bautista, on the other hand, while still busy, is probably a more likely candidate as far as picking up another comic book role is concerned. The actor remains tight with Guardians director James Gunn and could very likely show up in one of Gunn’s upcoming DCU projects. Gunn is famous for casting friends like Michael Rooker and Nathan Fillion in most of his movies, if not in lead roles, then at least in fun cameos.
As far as Marvel’s concerned, though, don’t expect to see either actor after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes out May 5, 2023.
