Dave Bautista Says a Drax Disney+ Series Would Be a Nightmare For Him

Dave Bautista is not interested in a Disney+ show for his Guardians of the Galaxy character Drax, calling the idea of it a "nightmare." Former WWE star Bautista joined the MCU in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, taking on the role of literal-minded Drax the Destroyer. At the time, the role was the biggest one yet of Bautista's acting career, and he has since gone on to appear in several high-profile films. He continues to play Drax for the MCU, though, and has at least two more movies ahead of him: Thor: Love and Thunder (which he has already completed filming) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

As the MCU continues to form its post-Infinity Saga plans, the mega-franchise is once again expanding into television. Marvel Studios is in the midst of producing several shows for Disney+, the first of which, WandaVision, premiered earlier this year. Currently, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is ramping up to complete its run on Friday, and there are four more shows slated for release in this year alone. The MCU Disney+ shows are being used to spotlight characters who either have appeared in the movies but haven't been explored much or are being introduced through their shows with an eye on crossing over to the films.

In October 2019, back when the Disney+ shows were more of an idea than anything else, Screen Rant received the opportunity to visit the set of Bautista's upcoming Netflix film Army of the Dead. When asked if he had any interest in starring in a Disney+ show as Drax, Bautista admitted he was briefly upset none of the Guardians were recruited for a series. However, he also acknowledged he has no interest in doing one himself for a major reason: The makeup. Bautista said:

Yeah, I was almost shocked. I almost got on my Twitter for a second and started to bash them for not making one Guardians character for TV. How does that happen? There's so many interesting characters in that world. I just don't get it. And then I thought, “you know I don't know what they have in mind. I don't know what they have planned.” I guess they took all their marquee characters and gave them shows and people were excited, so I don't want to take away from that Just because I'm bitter that nobody from our series did. And if they offered me a series I wouldn't do it. Not a chance in hell would I do a TV series playing Drax. That’s is a makeup nightmare. I would be miserable. That makeup is not fun. It's awful stuff I didn't sign up for. Doing a TV series and that makeup is not something I signed up for.

At the time, only a handful of Marvel streaming shows had been announced, but now it has been confirmed the Guardians will have some kind of presence on the service. Fan favorite character Baby Groot will receive his own spin-off show titled I am Groot, and 2022 will see the release of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which is expected to feature Bautista and the rest of the original cast. That sounds like it will be the extent of Bautista's involvement with Disney+ though, at least as Drax.

Bautista's reasoning for avoiding a Drax show isn't too surprising, since his makeup requires a great deal of work. Bautista's performance as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy films has been praised by fans and even inspired countless memes about his deadpan delivery. Undoubtedly, his next two outings as Drax will provide some more inspiration. It then remains to be seen if he will continue on as the character, or if he will move onto something else. Either way, he has made his mark on the character, and audiences won't ever forget that.

More: Guardians of the Galaxy: What Drax The Destroyer's Tattoos Mean

Source: Army of the Dead set visit