Dave Bautista bids an emotional farewell to Drax as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wraps production

The release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marks the end of an era for Marvel‘s ragtag band of A-holes from outer space, and Dave Bautista is having a hard time letting go of Drax, the character that in many ways put him on the Hollywood map. Bautista previously stated that his tenure as Drax the Destroyer is up after Guardians 3 blasts into theaters, and he’s found himself at a loss for words to describe his feelings.

“Haven’t found the words yet,” Bautista posted about bidding Drax a fond farewell to social media. “It ended so suddenly and I was on to my next film before I could process it all. End of a journey that changed my life.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Super Duper Fly (@davebautista)

While any character’s fate in the MCU is often unknown, Bautista told Ellen Degeneres last summer that he won’t be returning as the vengeful, Thanos-hating warrior for another project. “You know, the journey’s come full circle and I’m ready to kind of step aside and wrap it up. I didn’t think [me leaving the MCU] was going to be news because I figured everybody assumed it. This is how this works — 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 has made it crystal clear that one of the reasons he loves playing Drax is that it affords him the chance to work with James Gunn. Bautista had remained one of Gunn’s most prominent supporters, even when the filmmaker was on the outs with Marvel for a short time over a series of offensive tweets from several years ago. Bautista even said that he would break his contract and not participate in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 if Gunn was not involved. Thankfully, the situation never called for Bautista to jump ship, seeing as Gunn was re-assigned for the film shortly after the kerfuffle.

Will you miss Drax after the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Do you think we’ll ever see members of the Guardians again in another Marvel film? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to arrive in theaters on May 5, 2023.