Dave Bautista is now casting doubt on his return as Drax for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Earlier this summer, Disney made the decision to fire James Gunn as director of the third and final Guardians installment after an online troll brought several of Gunn's old tweets - many of which contained inappropriate and condemnable jokes about rape and pedophilia - to the public's attention. Rather than take any chances with the production, the Mouse House let-go of Gunn almost immediately.

What's interesting is that thousands - if not millions - of people continue to support Gunn despite the decision, and many of them have actively campaigned to have Disney reinstate Gunn as the director on Guardians 3. Unfortunately, after some deliberation, which included a meeting with Gunn, Disney ultimately chose to maintain their decision. But that doesn't mean they won't still use Gunn's story for the final Guardians film, which is expected to set up the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The problem is, even if Marvel Studios does move forward with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, they may have to do so without one of their key stars.

Related: Dave Bautista Doesn't Regret Spoiling Drax Avengers 4 Return

In an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show, Dave Bautista cast doubt on whether or not he would reprise his role as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, specifically because he's unhappy with what happened with James Gunn. In response to being asked about the possibility of him not appearing in the third film, Bautista said:

"Yeah, there’s a bit of an issue. It’s a bittersweet conversation. No, it's a bitter-bitter conversation because I’m not really happy with what they’ve done with James Gunn. They’re putting the movie off - it’s on hold indefinitely - and, to be honest with you, I don’t know if I wanna work for Disney. You know, I've been very vocal about the way I feel, and I'm not afraid to admit how I feel."

It's true that Disney recently put Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on indefinite hold while they figure out the future of the MCU as well as who should be Gunn's replacement. Whoever takes on the job may, unfortunately, face opposition from not only the cast and crew but also the devoted fan base who've remained loyal to Gunn since his firing. Bautista certainly hasn't refrained from expressing his opinion on the matter, and he's even gone as far as to say that he would quit Guardians 3 if Gunn's script isn't used. While Marvel plans on using Gunn's story, they may hire another writer to tweak and/or polish the screenplay before the start of production.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was originally supposed to start filming in early 2019 in order to make its proposed 2020 release date, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. The studio may instead move around their projects and circle back to their space-based superhero team at a later point. One thing's for sure, it'll be interesting to see how the Guardians' stories unfold in Avengers 4 next year if the studio doesn't plan on diving into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 afterward, especially if Bautista doesn't end up returning.

More: MCU Phase 4 Needs to Be Radically Different After James Gunn's Firing

Source: The Jonathan Ross Show

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