Dave Bautista Was The Perfect Choice For Drax The Destroyer In Guardians Of The Galaxy
Remember those days when the Guardians of the Galaxy team was first coming together? After what felt like an eternity of casting rumors and speculation, Marvel Studios finally rounded out the core group of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It seemed as if Marvel was having a hard time trying to find the right actor to play the role of Drax the Destroyer, but they have found the perfect fit. Former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista was cast to play the reincarnated, revenge-seeking warrior.
While actor Jason Momoa was also rumored for the role, it’s clear that James Gunn and the folks from Marvel got it right with this one. For Dave Bautista, it represented one of his first major roles, and would end up one that defined his early career. It helped that he was amazing in the part.
In the comic books, Drax was once known as Arthur Douglas, a human whose family was attacked and killed by the super-villain Thanos. The being known as Kronos took Arthur Douglas’ soul and placed it in a new body to create Drax the Destroyer so he could defeat and kill his grandson, Thanos.
Drax’s superpowers include enhanced strength and resilience, flight, and the ability to project energy blasts. According to director James Gunn at the time, Arthur Douglas’ rebirth as Drax the Destroyer would be modified and updated for the feature film.
Dave Bautista joined Chris Pratt‘s Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel’s Groot to round out the team.
And from a character perspective, Dave Bautista ended up checking all of the boxes as Drax. He has a massive and imposing physical presence, perfect for what Drax was bringing to the table. But there are many actors, or even pro wrestlers who could have done the same. It was that Dave Bautista got nearly everything else right about the character.
He had a deadpan humor that perfectly matched Drax’s super-literal personality. For a character who didn’t get humor at all, he was almost always scene-stealing as the funniest one there. The juxtaposition was fantastic and a credit to James Gunn writing the character.
It was, in many ways, a silly performance, but in all the right ways. Beyond that, though, Dave Bautista brought significant emotional depth to Drax, who was, of course, always suffering over the loss of his family. We saw this over the course of the franchise, and Dave Bautista carried it throughout.
The news that Dave Bautista was cast as Drax the Destroyer was surprising at the time, but no longer. They couldn’t have done better for the role.
