While everything about GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY was a risk for Marvel Studios, the biggest question mark leading to the film’s release was the casting of Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. While Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and the vocal talents of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel were pretty visible in their prior work, Bautista’s run as a WWE wrestler left his true acting chops a big unknown. Once the film hit, fans rallied to the highly literal character. Now, it looks like Drax may be getting more exposure in the Marvel universe.
In an article for PWMania, a wrestling site, the future of Bautista’s WWE character was outlined. Now, keep in mind this is far from official, but similar reveals were made about Dwayne Johnson‘s wrestling future after he was cast in THE SCORPION KING.
“Marvel Studios are currently restructuring his contract that will likely see him get more money due to the success of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Bautista is slated for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 as well as the 3rd AVENGERS movie, where he will have a significant role.”
The article goes on to say that there are other negotiation issues between WWE and Bautista that may lead to a reduced wrestling role now that his film career is poised to take off.
We know that signs are pointing to the third AVENGERS film to being an Infinity Gauntlet related plot, especially since Thanos has long been assumed to be the main foe for that film. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ended with Drax renewing his quest to avenge his family and that leads right for Thanos. How the alien warrior will come into contact with The Avengers remains to be seen. Most assumed either an Avenger would venture to see the Guardians or it would be Star-Lord returning to Earth.
This news does not rule out the other Guardians from also having significant roles in AVENGERS 3, but it is definitely the first sign that is the direction things are headed. Here’s hoping this pans out when THE AVENGERS 3 hits theaters in 2018. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 is slated to hit screens on July 28, 2017.