Why Dave Bautista assaulted a Guardians of the Galaxy crew member

Dave Bautista’s Drax is easily one of the two strongest Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of raw power. Additionally, there’s no denying that Bautista himself was the biggest and strongest actor on the Guardians set. He comes across as a humble man, but there was an instance where he resorted to violence with a Guardians crew member.

Given that he has a wrestling background, the actor was already famous before he became a Hollywood regular. Additionally, his background has ensured that he knows how to deliver a punch and take a hit. This was something that James Gunn highlighted when Bautista beat up a crew member who was harassing a stand-in from the latest Guardians film.

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When a Guardians crew member got beat up by Dave Bautista

Dave Bautista as Drax (Image via Marvel)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was a celebration for everyone involved. The film was released on May 5, 2023, and has been getting love from fans. However, the incident that Gunn highlighted took place during the wrap party of the franchise's first film in 2014.

Apparently, the unnamed crew member was harassing one of the stand-ins involved with the film and the Drax actor did not stand that behavior. Dave Bautista beat up the harasser and sent him flying across the room with a violent shove to save the stand-in.

Dave Bautista and James Gunn (Image via Marvel)

This story came from James Gunn himself. A few years ago, a Twitter user named Kyle Jerichow wrote what he heard about the experience of working on the set of Guardians of the Galaxy from a colleague.

He tagged James Gunn and wrote that one of the senior techs who worked on the first film told him about the "gigantic rig they made to control the milano." He also said that he knew about Chris Pratt "constantly" singing on set and claimed that it was cool to talk to Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, Sean, and James Gunn.

To this, James Gunn replied with a now-deleted tweet revealing what Bautista did to protect the stand-in. The director wrote that the wrap party was fun. He said that his "primary memory" was when a crew member harassed a stand-in who Sean was protecting and when the crew member got pushy with Sean, Bautista:

“tapped the harasser’s chest & he FLEW ACROSS THE ROOM because Dave actually has real-life superpowers!”

Both Gunn and Bautista have always backed each other. In fact, all members of the Guardians cast back one another and that was very apparent after James Gunn was fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

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How Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana fought to bring James Gunn back

Star-Lord and Gamora (Image via Marvel)

When James Gunn was fired over his resurfaced offensive tweets, Dave Bautista denied returning as Drax until Disney rehired James Gunn. Meanwhile, Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana personally went to the Marvel Studios offices to talk about Gunn’s return.

Pratt told The Hollywood Reporter what went down in his meeting with Marvel. He said that he wondered how they could use Gunn's script but couldn't have him direct the film. He added that the script was good but Disney got "rid of him" because they couldn't associate with him despite wanting to use his script.

Post this meeting, the entire cast signed an open letter addressed to Disney which demanded Gunn’s reinstatement. Ultimately, Gunn was rehired after a long process and the whole Guardians cast agreed to return for Vol. 3.