Dave Bautista is relieved to end his MCU run as Drax: 'I want to do more dramatic stuff'
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An era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes to an end this summer with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Having already said goodbye to some of its original superheroes in 2019's Avengers: Endgame, the franchise will now bid farewell to the space-faring heroes who made its foray into cosmic science-fiction storytelling such a success.
Dave Bautista, who has played Drax the Destroyer in six movies and a holiday special, has revealed that his departure from the MCU is bittersweet but that he's ready to move on.
"I'm so grateful for Drax. I love him," Bautista told GQ in a new interview. "But there's a relief. It wasn't all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And 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."
Everett Collection Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'
Thankfully, Bautista is getting those opportunities. He'll star in M. Night Shyamalan's upcoming horror flick, Knock at the Cabin, which Bautista says is "by far the most I've ever spoken in a film. Just huge pages of monologues."
He isn't leaving the sci-fi genre entirely, though. He still has Dune: Part Two coming later this year, in which his character Glossu Rabban will have a much bigger part.
In an interview about Dune with EW last year (which you can watch above), Bautista credited director Denis Villeneuve for first giving him the chance to show off his more serious bona fides in the opening scene of Blade Runner 2049. "That small role in Blade Runner made people see me differently," Bautista said. "I owe that to Denis completely."
In fact, he feels so indebted to the director that Bautista told GQ, "If I could be a number one [on the callsheet] with Denis, I would do it for f---ing free."
Read Bautista's full interview at GQ.
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