Dave Bautista Says His ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Character “Ran Its Course” But Is Open To Reprising Role If “James Gunn Called Me”

Dave Bautista played Drax the Destroyer across the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is open to reprising his Guardians of the Galaxy role if James Gunn asks.

In a new interview, the former WWE star said he thinks the Marvel character “ran its course” but would like the opportunity to play another comic book-based character.

“Drax is completely closed to me. Unless James Gunn called me and asked if I would do something as Drax again, I just wouldn’t be interested,” Bautista told ComicBook. “If James called me, which obviously is not gonna happen. He’s doing okay, he’s gone a different route.”

Gunn is now the co-head of DC Studios, making a fourth installment of Guardians of the Galaxy movie unlikely to happen anytime soon. However, Bautista is open to taking on a different character at Marvel or DC.

“I do wanna be in that world, I’m a fan of that world, I’m a fan of comic books and that whole universe,” Bautista said. “Marvel, DC, I just wanna be in it. I made that known to James, I made that known to the Russo brothers. Personally, I talked to them, all of them, and told them, ‘Don’t count me out. If there’s a character that I’d be right for and that you want me for, man, I’d be totally open-minded to it.’ It’s just the Drax character ran its course.”

Bautista originated the live-action Drax role in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy with Gunn as the director. He would team up with Gunn on two subsequent sequels, one in 2017 and the last of the trilogy in 2023.

The actor also played Drax in the Antony Russo and Joe Russo-directed movies Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). In 2022, Bautista reprised his comic book role in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder.

Marvel Studios is working on a fifth installment of the Avengers, which is expected to be released in 2026. However, it is unclear if the Guardians of the Galaxy characters will be involved.