Exclusive: Dave Bautista Done As Drax But Marvel Offering Him Millions To Stay
We've exclusively learned that Dave Bautista wants to be done as Drax, but Marvel is willing to pay to keep the actor.
Update: While Marvel may have offered Dave Bautista a huge sum of money to stay with the franchise, it appears he’s moved on following Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
It is no secret that Dave Bautista is done playing Drax the Destroyer for Marvel. The actor has said that a large part of his reasoning is that he is just too old to keep playing shirtless scenes for Guardians of the Galaxy movies. He has also been very open about his frustrations with his character. The first Guardians movie introduced Drax’s backstory and his need for revenge against Thanos. Since then, he’s become a quirky side character without any payoff for his revenge plot. The actor has said that he told Marvel he wanted a solo movie for Drax, but nothing ever came of it. Ultimately, this has led to dissatisfaction with Marvel for Dave Bautista, who seems very ready to move on after the release of Guardians of the Galaxy 3. But in all of these public statements from the actor, the studio has been quiet. So what does Marvel think about the future of Drax the Destroyer?
After some work on our behalf from one of our trusted and proven inside sources, we’ve learned that Marvel isn’t ready to let Drax go. While Dave Bautista wants out, the studio wants the actor to stay. So much so that they are actively trying to convince him to sign on to play Drax in the future. In fact, they are offering him millions of dollars to try and get him to do so.
While our source confirmed that Marvel is offering up millions of more dollars to try to convince Dave Bautista, we were unable to confirm how many millions. We only learned that they are willing to pay a lot more in order to keep him on board. We were also curious which movies they want Drax the Destroyer for. Did they want to secure Dave Bautista so that they could make a Guardians of the Galaxy 4, or does Marvel want the actor to appear in other future projects? Even if the fourth installment for Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t meant to be, it would make sense that they want Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, and therefore actors like Dave Bautista, to show up in future Marvel movies.
Of course, realistically, the idea of recasting Drax the Destroyer has been brought up in the public dialogue. Jim Starlin is the Marvel comics writer who first created Drax the Destroyer. He has said that he understands why Dave Bautista isn’t interested in playing a shirtless character anymore. He has also shared in Bautista’s frustrations with how the character has been developed, and seemingly forgotten, on screen. He has suggested that in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it wouldn’t be a big deal to recast the character if Marvel wanted to continue on.
However, it sounds like since the studio is willing to pay a lot more, they aren’t interested in doing that. Which makes sense. Drax is a fan-favorite character, and even with all the makeup on, audiences will be distracted by a recasting. Will they be as willing to accept someone new in the role? Offering Dave Bautista more money is a good way for Marvel to avoid having to find out.
Are the millions of more dollars bound to sway Dave Bautista? That’s hard to guess. The actor has been pretty public about his frustrations. He has recently gotten the chance to work with Zack Snyder and Netflix to lead his own zombie movies. He’s been working with Daniel Craig and Rian Johnson on Knives Out 2. With so much more work coming his way, he may not feel tempted. Still, millions of more dollars? It’ll be interesting to see how that changes his views.
