Will Drax return after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

Drax’s supposed final outing, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has arrived and it has proven to be a fitting end to James Gunn’s MCU trilogy. The marketing campaign of the film led fans to believe that many of the OG Guardians might end up perishing. But that bit turned out to be misleading.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Drax, in particular, was a character who was speculated to die, but he ended up surviving and got to retire as someone he always wanted to be right from the first Guardians outing. However, fans are still left asking whether he will return in future MCU outings.

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Drax will likely not return after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Dave Bautista in Guardians 3 (Image via Marvel)

A little while ago on The Tonight Show, Bautista confirmed that he is out for good, and it shouldn’t be “news” anymore. He said:

"Yeah, it's weird. I don't know why it's news. This is my seventh film as Drax. And my third 'Guardians' (movie). It was like our trilogy. That's kind of what we all signed up for, to do a trilogy. And I think this will be the last version of our 'Guardians of the Galaxy.'"

Bautista further added that his story comes to a perfect end in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and he wouldn’t want to return and tarnish that ending.

"We all had those perfect character arcs and such a storybook ending. I constantly relate it to the way I ended my wrestling career. I ended it on a storybook note. And I would never go back and tarnish that. And it's the same with this. With Drax, I just got to end the perfect way. And I would never sign up for another job as Drax just to get a paycheck. I would tarnish that (perfect ending), and I won't do it."

With these statements coming from Bautista, it was presumed that the Destroyer might be the one to bite the bullet in Vol. 3. But neither he nor any other OG Guardian died in Vol. 3.

Instead, he retired and adopted a bunch of Star Children on Knowhere. He finally got to be a dad, which could act as a great exit point for the MCU veteran.

Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy (Image via Marvel)

A feature from GQ in early 2023 also revealed what the former WWE star said about playing Drax in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy:

"I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy - it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff."

Well, Dave Bautista has been trying out different genres and it does seem that he’ll continue to pick up roles like the ones in Glass Onion and Knock at the Cabin. But since Bautista's MCU character is alive and well, Marvel might still want to bring him back in Secret Wars.

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Why Drax could return in Avengers: Secret Wars

Guardians 3 lineup (Image via Marvel)

James Gunn’s initial statements of multiple deaths in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 totally subverted fan expectations as the ones that died weren’t the Guardians, but Rocket’s old friends. Everyone else got fitting ends and future setups.

None of the Guardians were killed because firstly, Gunn wanted to surprise the fans. Secondly, apart from Rocket Raccoon, almost everyone had died in the MCU at least once and Rocket came very close to dying in this one. So, another death of a Guardian would have seemed redundant.

Thirdly, Marvel now gets an open choice to bring back any Guardians they want to in future crossover events after James Gunn’s MCU exit. So, even though Bautista has claimed that he wouldn’t want to return, it’s possible that his statements were just a way of making fans think that Drax would die, only to subvert their expectations later.

Meaning – Marvel could still unite all the original Guardians in Avengers: Secret Wars or some other cosmic crossover in the coming years.