Guardians of the Galaxy established that Drax the Destroyer has one of the more unique perspectives of any Marvel superhero, something that’s true in different incarnations of the character. The MCU states that Drax’s people are completely literal-minded and clueless about metaphors. In the comics, Drax has been reimagined as more dull-witted, leading to some admittedly hilarious moments.
At one point in his life, Drax was said to be very simple-minded to the point where he could only understand things on a childlike level. Although this made it hard for his teammates to get him to listen to them, it also gave Drax a strangely high level of creativity… especially when it came to naming people.
During the Infinity Crusade saga, for instance, Drax was not on a very good terms with most of the Marvel superheroes considering he was part of the Infinity Watch, a team created to safeguard the Infinity Stones. Given how others (like Thanos) had misused the stones in the past, many heroes distrusted the Infinity Watch and viewed them as potential threats. Drax – who possessed the Power Stone – only increased this public relations problem when he soundly beat the Hulk up in a street fight, thanks to his vastly superior power source.
However, the Avengers and Infinity Watch had to work together when the Infinity Watch’s leader, Adam Warlock, accidentally created a great universal threat by allowing the goodness in him to manifest as a religious leader, the Goddess, who brainwashed many Marvel heroes under the guise of fostering universal peace and harmony. As the remaining Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men teams got together to plan a counterattack, the other Infinity Watch members decided to support these heroes and teleported into their stronghold.
A big hero vs. hero fight broke out until Reed Richards managed to calm everyone down. Hilariously, Drax – who was rather simple-minded in this incarnation – was blissfully unaware of the seriousness of the situation and offered to introduce his superhero team to his “friends” the Avengers, despite the fact that he couldn’t get any of their names right. Drax introduced Hulk as “Bulk,” Iron Man as “Iron Pan,” the X-Men member Havok as “Chaos,” and Wolverine as “The Badger.” Fortunately, the heroes all got distracted before Drax could continue butchering everyone else’s names.
Whether or not Drax truly didn’t know the Avengers’ real names or if he was simply being a smart aleck is unknown. Drax has shown an uncommon wit in the past, and while he was supposedly childlike and simple during this phase of his existence, it’s always possible he knew more than he was letting on. While his own name is usually associated with fighting, in this case, “Drax the Destroyer” showed he was equally adept at destroying superhero names as he was bashing people’s faces in.