Could Dave Bautista's WWE Return Mean the End of Drax in the MCU?

In 2014, the Marvel Cinematic Universe took to the cosmos with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Directed and co-written by James Gunn, the film introduced countless casual fans to the eclectic band of space-traversing heroes who’ve since become staples of the MCU. However, while each of them are now fan-favorites in their own right, the one with the most to prove at the time – and who’s since become arguably the most popular – is Dave Bautista, who plays Drax the Destroyer.

In 2014, Bautista’s resume was largely dominated by his time as a professional wrestler in the WWE. Outside of that, perhaps the biggest acting credit to his name was playing Diaz in 2013’s Riddick alongside his future GotG costar Vin Diesel. Nevertheless, Marvel Studios took a chance on Bautista, much like the Guardians franchise as a whole, and it paid off big time (approximately $1.65 billion over two films, not to mention Avengers: Infinity War and the upcoming Endgame).

Unfortunately, it appears Bautista’s future in the MCU could be in jeopardy.

On the Feb. 26 edition of WWE SmackDown Live, Bautista made a surprise return to crash Ric Flair’s 70^th birthday party, seemingly setting the stage for a match between the former “Animal” and Triple H at WrestleMania XXXV in April. In fact, the seeds for this showdown were actually set months earlier, when Bautista teased some animosity between himself and his former Evolution teammate in October on the 1,000^th episode of SmackDown.

Naturally, with Bautista apparently poised to return to the squared circle on the grandest stage of them all, one can’t help but wonder if it’s a sign that his days as Drax are numbered. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, though, let’s look back at his tenure in the WWE, up to and including his departure, as well as his current relationship with Marvel and Disney.

After being called up from Ohio Valley Wrestling – a developmental territory WWE used to groom future talent before establishing NXT in Florida – Bautista (aka Deacon Batista) began appearing on SmackDown in 2002 as an enforcer for D’Von Dudley (aka Reverend D’Von). He quickly outgrew that gimmick, though, and in 2003, Bautista (aka Batista) became a member of the faction known as Evolution, alongside Randy Orton and the aforementioned Ric Flair and Triple H.

It was during this period that Bautista got his first taste of WWE gold when he and Ric Flair captured the World Tag Team Championships. He was then quickly catapulted into the main event picture, winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Triple H in 2005 at WrestleMania XXI.

Bautista would experience five more World Title reigns before, in 2010, he abruptly departed the company, “quitting” during a scripted on-air segment in which he was wheelchair bound due to a legitimate injury to his L1 vertebrae. In reality, though, his contract was up and he opted not to resign.

However, that didn’t stop Bautista from returning for a brief run in 2014 to participate in the road to WrestleMania XXX. Once again, though, he decided to part ways with the WWE, this time only sticking around for six months.

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Last year, Bautista finally addressed his reason for trading in his wrestling trunks for a Hollywood trailer, stating, " it came from me discovering I was a horrible actor and I wanted to become a better actor. And I wanted to do it while I was still with WWE. They would not give me the opportunity to do it within the company. So I said, 'I should be given the opportunity to do it outside of the company.' They said, 'Absolutely not.' I said, 'Well, I'm going to let my contract run out, and I'm gonna leave.' So that's exactly what I did - I set out to be an actor."

"It was brave and maybe a little stupid. [laughs]. It was three years of me barely working," he continued. "You know, it was a nice thing with the WWE. I made a very good living there. I was very comfortable and I could have stuck with that, but I wanted to do something else."

Few can fault Bautista for his ambition, and it’s safe to say he’s certainly achieved his goal of becoming a better actor. In addition to his work under the Marvel Studios banner, he’s also appeared in such high-profile films as Spectre, Heist, Blade Runner 2049, Hotel Artemis, and he was recently announced as part of the expansive cast of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune reboot.

Furthermore, one must consider where Bautista stands with Marvel Studios (and vice versa) following James Gunn being fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Ever since Gunn’s departure, Bautista has been the most vocal member of the GotG cast when it comes to expressing his disagreement with the House of Ideas and the House of Mouse. He even went as far as to threaten to quit the threequel if Marvel didn’t opt to use Gunn’s already completed script. However, while we know the studio still plans to use the script, Bautista remains firmly in Gunn’s corner.

That being said, is it safe to say Bautista’s return to the WWE – the company he called home off and on for the better part of two decades – means he’s ready to hang up Drax’s twin knives for good?

Probably not.

While the chances of Disney caving and rehiring Gunn are slim to none, the studio is moving forward with his script, which was the only hard and fast condition Bautista made publicly regarding his return for GotG Vol. 3. Moreover, he recently stressed to the Tampa Bay Times, “I’m proud to be a character actor. I want that respect and credibility and education.” Those don’t sound like the words of someone who’s planning on returning to the ring fulltime.

Of course, even if Bautista’s WWE run is another one-off and he does remain in Hollywood, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll stay under Marvel Studios for the long haul. For the time being, though, it stands to reason that Drax isn’t going anywhere.