'Never Got To Say Goodbye': Dave Bautista On His MCU Character Drax The Destroyer

Despite having bid adieu to his popular MCU character as Drax the Destroyer, Dave Bautista feels he did not get any “closure”. The 55-year-old appeared in each feature film in the Guardians franchise alongside other Marvel projects like Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War. In a recent conversation with an entertainment portal, Bautista shared his thoughts about his exit from the Guardians franchise, adding that he doesn’t miss Drax anymore.

“I won’t say I miss him. What I do miss is the family environment. It’s hard knowing that we will never be on set together again. Me, Chris (Pratt), Zoe (Saldana), Pom (Klementieff), Karen (Gillan), Sean Gunn, James Gunn—it’s never going to happen again. It’s hard to live with that. I also never really had closure on that part of my career. Even though it’s gone and in the past, I never got to say goodbye to everyone. I never got to go to the premiere, have fun with everybody, cry, or say goodbye. I never got that,” the actor told The Hollywood Reporter.

He also spoke about his last night on the sets of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, sharing how he quickly wrapped the shoot and rushed for a flight to Philadelphia for the filming of Knock at the Cabin. “So I never really got to say goodbye to everyone. I got rushed off-set to another film. I was then on another film, and I didn’t go to the press or make it to the premiere of Guardians 3. So there’s just a huge part of me that feels like there was no closure. I never really got to say goodbye to that character and that cast, and there’s always going to be some sadness involved when I start thinking about that,” he added.

Earlier in 2023, Bautista unexpectedly left the franchise, explaining that he wanted to explore more new roles. “I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy—it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff,” he told GQ Magazine back then. Following the culmination of the franchise with Volume 3, fans have been wondering if a fourth film is still on the cards.

During a 2020 Q&A, James Gunn cleared the air, stating that he never had plans to do a fourth Guardians film.