When Dave Bautista said goodbye to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise in 2023, it appeared that the former wrestler was ready to move on from playing the MCU’s adaptation of Drax the Destroyer. However, it seems that looking back on his time in the franchise, and how it came to an end, is something of a sad memory, as he regrets missing out on one thing after his final outing in the MCU.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 became the most successful Marvel Studios release of 2023 thanks in part to the box office disappointment of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels. As James Gunn’s third and final time in the director’s chair on a Marvel movie, the film wrapped up several long-running storylines for characters that were pulled from the obscurity of Marvel Comics and turned into household names by the now head of the DCU. Drax was a character who underwent many changes compared to his comic book counterpart – not all of them to the approval of Bautista – and while the actor seemed ready to quit the role by the time the final movie rolled out, he now looks back on the ending of franchise with a deep sadness.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Bautista reflected on his many years playing Drax, and explained that due to timing of things, he feels he was unable to have the kind of closure casts usually get when wrapping up such an epic journey. Talking about the sadness he feels about not saying a proper goodbye to some of his co-stars, Bautista said:

“What I do miss is the family environment. It’s hard knowing that we will never be on set together again. Me, Chris, Zoe, Pom, Karen, Sean Gunn, James Gunn — it’s never going to happen again. It’s hard to live with that. I also never really had closure on that part of my career. Even though it’s gone and in the past, I never got to say goodbye to everyone. I never got to go to the premiere and have fun with everybody and cry and say goodbye. I never got that.”

Bautista continued to explain how his final piece of filming for the Guardians franchise was actually for the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, but his commitment to M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin meant he had to make a swift exit as soon as filming wrapped.

“My last night on
Guardians
was actually [
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
]. We shot
Guardians 3
and the
Holiday Special
concurrently. So our last night of filming was here in Hollywood, and we wrapped at 3 or 4 in the morning. And then I literally had to run to the hotel, get my bags, jump on a jet and fly to Philadelphia to start
Knock at the Cabin
two days later. So I never really got to say goodbye to everyone. I got rushed off set to another film. I was then on another film, and I didn’t do press or make the premiere for
Guardians 3
. So there’s just a huge part of me that feels like there was no closure. I never really got to say goodbye to that character and that cast, and there’s always going to be some sadness involved when I start thinking about that.”

Dave Bautista is the King of Hollywood Right Now

Although saying goodbye to a big MCU role could be a daunting thing – we all saw how even the likes of Robert Downey Jr. spent a lot of time in the doldrums following his Endgame exit – Dave Bautista has nothing to worry about on that score, having set himself up a healthy slate of future projects.

Hot off the heels of his role in Denis Villleneuve’s Dune duology, Bautista has recently starred in Netflix movie sequel My Spy: The Eternal City to great viewership success if not on a critical level. He is following this up with roles in the action thriller The Killer’s Game, and the Jamie Lee Curtis and Pamela Anderson-starring The Last Showgirl, as well as announced roles in Aang: The Last Airbender, Trap House, Afterburn, and a live-action Grendal movie retelling the epic poem, Beowulf.

And of course, this is all in addition to his “buddy-cop” comedy with Jason Momoa, which will see the pair team up on an idea that came about thanks to a back and forth chat on X/Twitter which combined with a little fan power and movie magic to become an actual in-development movie. It was recently announced that the pair will be joined in the film by Deadpool star Monica Baccarin, who will play the girlfriend of Momoa’s “loose canon” cop.

Fans can relive Dave Bautista’s Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances as Drax on Disney+.