Doing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is bittersweet for Dave Bautista. The wrestler-turned-actor joined the MCU as Drax Destroyer in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy directed by James Gunn as part of the original team line-up. Since then he's appeared in three more films in the franchise: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. Aside from the upcoming threequel, he's also set to be in Thor: Love and Thunder alongside some of his fellow cosmic heroes.

Bautista has long finished his work on the next Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth blockbuster. Right now, he's currently busy promoting Denis Villeneuve's Dune, which just recently premiered at Venice Film Festival. After that, he's expected to reprise his role as Drax with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 now nearing the beginning of principal photography. After that, however, he's done with the role; the actor has been vocal about that. The comment made headlines since he's a member of one of the MCU's fan-favorite superhero groups, but the actor is adamant. Bautista said he would be too old to keep Drax's physique by the time the threequel comes out.

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Now, while doing the press rounds for Dune, Bautista talks a little bit about getting ready for his final MCU outing to ComicBook. The actor can't understandably talk about the story details of the movie, but he says that wrapping it up, especially after almost a decade with the cast and Gunn is somewhat bittersweet.

"It's our third film. We're going to wrap it up. And it's been a hell of a journey with a few bumps. So I'm looking forward to this, man. My cast and obviously the director, James Gunn, they're like family to me. This is kind of where my journey started. It's come full circle and I'm looking forward to wrapping it up. And it's a bittersweet... I mean, I've been doing Guardians since 2013. And, you know, when this comes out, you know, it'll be in 2023, so that's a, you know, 10 year journey."

James Gunn Guardians of the Galaxy

Bautista is talking about the process of making Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 knowing that it's his last film as Drax. Gunn has also been vocal about walking away from the MCU after the threequel, saying that his story has always been planned to finish with the third film. Over the last several months, the filmmaker has teased about the end of this current Guardians of the Galaxy lineup, with at least one major death in the narrative. Given that, the blockbuster does sound like it will be the end of an era for this particular set of characters, even if Marvel Studios decides to continue the sub-franchise without Bautista and/or Gunn.

Looking back, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies have always had an emotional core to them. It's the reason why people got easily invested in the team despite some of its characters being too obscure for non-comic book readers. But, based on what's been said on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 so far, expect its story to be much more dramatic, and as Gunn said, heavier.

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Source: ComicBook

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