Dave Bautista Reveals That Constantly Being Shirtless Is One Reason He Left The MCU

Dave Bautista is talking about his role as Drax the Destroyer in the 2014 comic book movie Guardians of the Galaxy and the reasons that factored into his decision of leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MSU) after he stars in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Bautista has appeared in multiple films as the slightly simple-minded yet deadly warrior Drax the Destroyer. The actor will appear alongside Chris Hemsworth and the other cast members of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies in the upcoming Phase Four movie Thor: Love and Thunder before officially making his exit in the third Guardians of the Galaxy film.

Bautista has given a handful of reasons as to why he is retiring from the character of Drax. One particular reason he gave for leaving was the fact that his character was always having to be shirtless on screen aside from one brief scene in Avengers: Endgame. Being well into his fifties, the actor has found it difficult to stay in physical shape by Marvel’s standards. “I’m going to be 54 years old by the time Guardians 3 comes out, and the shirtless thing is getting harder and harder for me,” he said during an interview with Ellen DeGeneres,

Bautista also stated in a previous interview that he was disappointed with how Disney handled Drax’s character, particularly on the fact that he rarely ever won a fight by himself. “That role changed the trajectory of my life. It’s always going to be special to me,” he said. “Now that I’m four films, I really wished they would have invested more in Drax, personally. Because I think Drax has more of a story to tell. I think Drax has a really interesting backstory which they dropped the ball on. That’s no dig on Marvel. They had their slate, I know what they’re focused on, that’s what they have slated out. But man, I think they really missed the ball on Drax. He has such a great backstory. Selfishly, as a performer, that would have given me the opportunity to show different sides of Drax, emotionally. And physically as well. Because, if you notice, Drax, although he looks like a badass, you look at him and he looks terrifying, but Drax gets his a– kicked more than any other Marvel character.”

In addition to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being the final film for Bautista, director James Gunn will also part ways with the franchise, preferring to keep it as a trilogy.