WWEditorials Ep. XIV: The Animal. The Actor. The Evolution.

THE ACTOR

Dave Bautista as been fortunate enough to be in some big Hollywood successes, with the most recent having to be “SPECTRE” in the role of Mr. Hinx. In 2014, he had a starring role in Guardians Of The Galaxy, which grossed over $750million worldwide. His tenure as a Marvel hero has only begun though, as the four-time World Heavyweight Champion will return for Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 and is rumoured for The Avengers 3. He took a hiatus in 2010 to focus on acting – he’s also taken part in 2012’s Man With The Iron Fist and 2013’s Riddick – before returning for a five month stint earlier this year.

Dave Bautista has received rave reviews for his performance as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy. The WWE superstar has a major role in the film, which has opened with a strong commercial success at the box office this past week.

The success of Batista’s performance will buoy his Hollywood ambitions. Aged 45 he is near retirement in wrestling, so a full time career as a movie star now seems a distinct possibility. The New York Times singled out Batista’s performance as “terrific”. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone states the WWE star “brings ferocity and feeling to Drax the Destroyer”.

Drax actor Dave Bautista openly admitted that while he hadn’t read the script yet, he did have an idea which kind of road his character was going to go down in the sequel. The road to being ridiculously cool by the sounds of it…

“I haven’t read the script, and I’m being completely honest when I say that, but I think, having talked to [director] James [Gunn] about the film, I know he’s… I hate to give any spoilers, but I know he’s really going to focus on Drax being a badass. He’s still not really going to get metaphors, even though he thinks he does, but he’ll still be that very literal Drax. I think you’re going to see a lot more badass Drax.”

—Dave Bautista on “Guardians of the Galaxy 2”

The first Guardians Of The Galaxy saw Drax The Destroyer swear vengeance against titan Thanos for murdering his wife and daughter – something he didn’t succeed in doing, despite the group beating the movie’s top bad guy, Ronan (Lee Pace).

While there’s been no mention of Thanos – or Josh Brolin, the actor who played him – appearing in the sequel, Bautista is hopeful that that doesn’t mean we’ve seen the last of Drax’s oath.

“As far as the storyline as a whole, I honestly don’t know, and if I did know obviously I wouldn’t tell you, but I hope they’ll continue on with that path, and – fingers crossed as a fan – I hope that it will tie in with The Avengers somewhere down the road.”

(Continue to page 3: The Evolution)