A few months ago we revealed to you why the next film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 should be as important as Avengers: Endgame according to his director james gunnan opportunity to evoke the feelings of Dave Bautista about his future as Drax. And precisely, the director recently explained himself on certain changes brought to the character embodied by the former star of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
gunn’s explanation
The film director Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn, recently explained why the origin story of Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is different than its comic book counterpart.
Earlier this week, Gunn responded to a user on Twitter who asked him if he could explain the decision to make Drax’s character a “pure alien”. The director then explained that he had removed some Earth-related storylines from Drax’s original story that we find in the comics, and this in order to avoid making a “space opera with a dozen Earthlings who find themselves by chance in space”.
The director also explained that he wanted Guardians of the Galaxy stage “a group of aliens and orphans from different planets who unite”. It’s for this reason that characters like Drax have gone entirely alien.leaving Peter Quill aka Star Lord as the only human in the hard core of the MCU blockbuster.
I didn’t want to make a space opera with a dozen earthlings who just coincidentally found themselves in space. How could I even explain that in the 1st 20 minutes of a movie? I wanted a group of aliens & orphans from different planets who banded together. https://t.co/qwckcP0gaE
April 21, 2022
I didn’t want to do a space opera with a dozen Earthlings who find themselves in space by chance. How could I explain that in the first 20 minutes of a movie? I wanted a group of aliens and orphans from different planets that come together.
bautista’s disappointment
For indeed, in the comics, Drax the Destroyer was originally human. The character appears for the first time in the comics The Invincible Iron Man #55 in 1973, where we learn that Drax was once an ordinary earthling called Arthur Douglas. Douglas and his family were killed by Thanos, but the latter’s father, having witnessed the scene, decides to create a being capable of defeating the Mad Titan. He will then make a body from cosmic energy and earth, and house the spirit of Arthur Douglas in it. The immeasurable hatred that the character feels towards Thanos will thus give birth to Drax the Destroyer.
But the movies Guardians of the Galaxy completely removed Drax’s connection to Arthur Douglas and Earth, though Thanos was still indirectly responsible for killing his family. And in the past, actor Dave Bautista had already expressed his frustration on how his character’s relationship with Thanos was handled in the MCU. He said in a Twitter post:
This whole Drax-Thanos thing seems to have been swept under the rug. I’ve always wondered why, but all the reasons I could find just make me shake my head. It’s like that.
The actor also admitted to being “a bit disappointed” that Drax was not the one who killed Thanos in Avengers: Endgame (2019). Despite his reluctance, Bautista will nevertheless put on his “costume” of Drax for the next film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 also for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, but these last two projects could mark the last appearances of the actor in this role. However, Marvel and Disney seem ready to do anything to keep the character in the MCU.
