Of the five members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, few could have predicted that Drax the Destroyer would become an audience favorite. His role was downplayed significantly in the film’s marketing – as he was described solely as the muscle of the team – but at the end of the day, WWE star Dave Bautista truly stole the show and carried much of the comedic relief as Drax.
We’ve heard rumblings that the Guardians would not only return for their own already-announced sequel in 2017, but join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in the battle against Thanos in Avengers 3. Now, a new report has come in that seemingly confirms that news, and suggests that Batista’s character will have a more substantial role than before.
According to the WWE website PWMania, the success of Guardians of the Galaxy may have actually put Bautista’s wrestling career in jeopardy, as Marvel is now worried that he may injure himself in the ring. He and the studio are currently trying to negotiate, but he’s made it clear that the WWE will be coming second to his movie career.
Marvel is also supposedly restructuring Bautista’s contract so that he’ll get paid more to play Drax in future films. The reason for the re-negotiations are because of the larger role Drax will have in the upcoming films.
Drax has quite the history with Thanos, as the Mad Titan is responsible for ordering the deaths of his wife and child. He vowed to take revenge on Thanos at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, so it makes sense that he’d be a significant part of the fight with him in Avengers 3.
Of course, this isn’t coming from an official source, so take it as a rumor for now. However, it is one that definitely makes sense.
Avengers 3 does not currently have a release date, but is expected to hit cinemas in early 2018.