Dave Bautista Frustrated By Marvel's Use of Thanos & Drax in the MCU

The Guardians of the Galaxy have always operated as an ensemble, but each member has plenty of solo potential.

They may be a team, but they all came from different backgrounds. Chris Pratt's Peter Quill had his backstory explored through his one-on-one time with his father, Kurt Russell's Ego the Living Planet, during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Zoe Saldana's Gamora had her own flashbacks alongside her similarly problematic pops in Avengers: Infinity War. 

Other founding Guardians like Bradley Cooper's Rocket and Vin Diesel's Groot have long been rumored to have their individual histories explored come 2023's threequel, leaving one member without a clear storyline.

Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer raged onto the scene in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, establishing himself as a ruthless brute bent on vengeance. Years before Thanos captured all six Infinity Stones, the Mad Titan pillaged Drax's home planet, killing his wife and daughter in the process.

With Thanos supposedly dead for good, doubt has been cast on this storyline getting fleshed out further by Drax's actor himself.

BAUTISTA FRUSTRATED BY LACK OF THANOS STORYLINE

He may have found peace as The Streamer, but Dave Bautista still has boiled-up frustrations inside.

Taking to Twitter, the Guardians of the Galaxy star responded to a fan eager to find out Drax's mental state now that Thanos has been dusted, stating that the "Thanos history seemed to get swept under the rug:"

"That whole Drax,Thanos history seemed to get swept under the rug. Always wondered why but every reason I could come up with just makes me shake my fucking head. It is what it is."

DRAX'S COMPLICATED MARVEL STUDIOS HISTORY

This isn't the first time Dave Bautista has vocalized his issues with Marvel Studios.

The actor infamously proclaimed his intention to breach his contract and not return for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 unless director James Gunn was reinstated. Disney eventually mended fences with Gunn, bringing the Guardians visionary back into the fold and giving him a holiday special to boot. 

Most recently, Bautista noted Marvel did not ask him to reprise his role as Drax in the upcoming What If...? animated series, casting a different actor to lend his vocal talents.

Regardless, Bautista's latest frustrations are understandable. Drax the Destroyer premiered in 2014 dead-set on a path of revenge but slowly fizzled out of it. Even when he got his one-on-one time with the Mad Titan in Avengers: Infinity War, Drax didn't exactly bring the same rage he had four years prior.

To say Drax has a complicated history with Thanos would be a colossal understatement. Years before Thanos adopted his savior complex, he was a cruel conqueror that hopped from planet to planet executing populations by the millions. Drax had two people close to him on the receiving end of Thanos's destruction. With a built-in relationship like that, the story writes itself.

It's unlikely Drax will ever get a solo project, but a couple of flashbacks of his early encounters with Thanos couldn't hurt. With Bautista noting he does not intend to return to the MCU after Vol. 3, the window on exploring Drax's backstory is rapidly closing.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.