Former WWE Superstar Dave Bautista achieved great success in Hollywood by portraying the iconic character Drax The Destroyer in the Marvel Universe. With his impressive physique, he perfectly embodied the role and delivered remarkable performances throughout the franchise.
His debut as Drax came in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and he continued to portray the character in other Marvel films such as Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder. He also contributed to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise in Vol. 2 and the Holiday Special. Regrettably, the upcoming Vol. 3 will mark his final appearance as Drax.
Dave Bautista stated that he has reached a point in his career where he desires to take on more dramatic roles and move away from the character of Drax. Additionally, he did not particularly enjoy the extensive makeup process or the constant requirement of being shirtless for the role.
“I’m going to be 54 years old by the time Guardians 3 comes out,” he told DeGeneres about why he’ll no longer play Drax the Destroyer. “The shirtless thing is getting harder and harder for me.”
Furthermore, Bautista revealed that he would have considered being Drax had James Gunn been directing. Since James Gunn announced Vol 3. was his last movie, Bautista decided to step aside as well.
“James Gunn has already announced it’s his last film, and when James is done, I’m done.” Bautista continued, “The journey has come full circle and I’m just ready to step aside and wrap it up.”
After Bautista left pro wrestling to pursue a career in Hollywood, it did not quite take off as he expected. Even though he was a renowned WWE Superstar, it just was not enough to break into showbiz.
However, the role of Drax helped him tremendously, both professionally and personally:
“So Drax didn’t just change my career. It literally changed the trajectory of my life. My life just got better and I just became more successful,” Bautista said of his role as Drax. “And that’s when things really just started to seem like surreal. It wasn’t many years [earlier] when I was just like borrowing money to pay for food, pay for rent. Borrow money to buy my kids Christmas presents. It wasn’t long before all that stuff [had happened].”
Apart from Guardians of the Galaxy, Dave Bautista has starred in other films, including Dune, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, My Spy, and others.
The Animal’s last WWE match was at WrestleMania 35, where he put his career on the line in a No Holds Barred Match against Triple H and lost.
