Marvel characters who have made big names for themselves in the MCU movies are finding new life -- and greater opportunity -- thanks to the Disney+ shows that Marvel Studios have been producing. On the big screen, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan basically support Chris Evans’ Captain America. On Disney+, however, they can be the stars of their own popular show The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It’s a new lease on a creative life. Just don’t ask Dave Bautista if he wants to play Drax the Destroyer in a Marvel television show. Because he really, really doesn’t.
CinemaBlend caught up with Dave Bautista in Atlantic City back in 2019 while the actor was on the set of his upcoming zombie heist thriller Army of the Dead, coming to Netflix in May. As the conversation turned to Bautista’s future plans, he expressed an interest in leading a TV series. But when we asked if he’d play Drax in a Marvel Studios Disney+ program, he made it very clear that he’s not interested. Bautista told us:
Honestly, if they offered me a series, I wouldn't do it. Not a chance in hell would I do a TV series playing Drax. Because that is a makeup nightmare. I would be miserable. That makeup is not fun. It’s awful. So I'm not going to sign up to your TV series where I'm in that makeup every day.
Having been to the set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and seeing Dave Bautista’s Drax makeup on the man’s body up close (literally, I stood behind him in the lunch line and joked about the level of detail that covers every inch of his upper torso), I totally understand why he’d wave the white flag of surrender and just say “No thanks” if he ever were to be offered a Marvel television show. At the same time, the Drax makeup is incredible. He looks fantastic, and the people who create his image doing amazing work. But the process clearly has taken its toll on this soft-spoken and introspective action star, so it was interesting to hear him say this aloud.
At the same time, and in the same conversation, Dave Bautista did express shock that NO member of the Guardians of the Galaxy ensemble got a spinoff show as Marvel was mapping out its Disney+ programming plans. While he was removing himself from consideration, Bautista told CinemaBlend:
I was shocked, and I almost got on my Twitter for a second and started to bash them for not making... like, not ONE Guardians character got on TV? How does that happen? There are so many interesting characters in that world. I just don't get it. But then I thought, ‘You know, I don't know what they have in mind and all they have planned. I get that they took all their marketable characters and gave them shows.’ So I don't want to take away, just because I'm bitter than nobody from our series (gets a show).
He said it with a laugh, but you could also tell he meant it. Marvel has unveiled a full slate of upcoming Disney+ television shows, and they spotlight new characters we haven’t seen on screen before, from She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) to Moon Knight (Oscar Isaac). But there also have been familiar faces, but no Guardians. That could change in the future, and maybe there’s a better chance now that Dave Bautista’s sensible gripe has been made public.
