The Marvel Cinematic Universe is synonymous with the groundbreaking nature of its production, especially starting the trend of serialized storytelling and shared universes. The Russo Brothers have also done the seemingly impossible with Avengers: Infinity War, balancing and servicing all of the MCU's characters in an epic and emotional storyline that packed an emotional gut punch in its final moments. But in order to do that, plenty of material ended up on the cutting room floor.
One of the character pairings that didn't get enough attention was Drax and Thanos. Dave Bautista's Guardian was originally motivated by getting revenge on the Mad Titan, but he was largely pushed to the side for Gamora and Nebula's stories in Infinity War. But it turns out that a fight sequence between he and Thanos was originally pitched, with concept art even being produced. Check it out.
Pretty cool, right? This shows what it could have looked like if the Green and Purple cosmic characters clashed in their own battle. And while Drax took arms up against Thanos twice during the course of Infinity War, they never met 1:1 in the blockbuster.
This awesome new image comes to us from concept artist Rodney Images, who works with Marvel Studios to create its fantastic world. This includes Avengers: Infinity War, which had a long gestation and planning period by The Russo Brothers. The film had to balance a huge ensemble of characters, so there was no doubt plenty of addition and subtraction coming from the film during its development process. Ultimately Thanos and Drax's fight got cut, but hopefully there's still hope of it happening in Avengers 4.
When Drax was first introduced in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, his character met with the rest of the group because of his hatred for Thanos. Thanos killed Drax's family (and half his planet), so he relishes at the opportunity to kill Gamora, and cause the Mad Titan some pain. Obviously the group ends up becoming family of their own, with the two green Guardians uniting over their mutual disdain for Thanos. But when it came to Infinity War, Drax was largely used as a tertiary character, despite coming face to face with his nemesis twice.
Drax fought Thanos in both the original conflict on Knowhere, as well as the super exciting battle on Titan. He got a few blows in, but ultimately the Avengers and Guardians failed to stop Thanos from collecting the Infinity Stones, and destroying half the galaxy with the snap of a finger. The Guardians suffered heavy losses, with Mantis, Groot, Star-Lord, and Drax all fading to dust in the film's final moments. As such, it's unclear if/how Drax will get to face off against Thanos again.
Most Marvel fans assume that the dusted characters will be revived somehow, although the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is still unclear. With James Gunn fired and Dave Bautista his most vocal supporter, Drax might never get a chance to have his story completed.
All will be revealed when Avengers 4 arrives in theaters on May 3rd, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
