Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista revealed more about why he's ready to leave Drax the Destroyer behind.
On The Ellen Show, Bautista shed light on the recent announcement that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be his last Marvel Cinematic Universe appearance, to which he admitted being surprised by the fandom reaction. "I said it recently because I've been doing interviews and talking a lot about Guardians and I didn't think it was going to be news because I figured everybody assumed that this is how this works," he explained. "We work in trilogies, and James Gunn has already announced that it's his last film, and when James is done, I'm done."
Bautista also mentioned that age played a role in his decision to step away from the MCU. "I'm also going to be 54 years old by the time Guardians 3 comes out, and just like, the shirtless thing is getting harder and harder for me," he said. However, he seemed content with this decision, stating, "the journey has come full circle and I'm just ready to kind of step aside and wrap it up."
Since the breakout success of James Gunn's 2014 sci-fi film, Bautista has played Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame respectively. He will also return as the character for both Gunn's The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Taika Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder, with the latter building upon Endgame's conclusion of Thor traveling into space with the Guardians. Both projects are currently set for a 2022 release.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Sean Gunn and Elizabeth Debicki. The film arrives in theaters May 5, 2023.
Source: YouTube