Dave Bautista May Not Have Been in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ Without James Gunn

After James Gunn was first relieved of his duties as director for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Dave Bautista was one of the first actors that came to his defense. Bautista, who’s appeared as Drax the Destroyer in three different MCU films, has been the most vocal castmate since the news first surfaced. As expected, Bautista recently confirmed that he didn’t want to be a part of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 without Gunn at the helm, despite being contractually obligated to.

Speaking with Variety at CinemaCon earlier today, Bautista mentioned that he thinks Disney would have let him out of the contract if he insisted he didn’t want to be in the cosmic film.

“I am contractually obligated [to do the third movie], but I think that Marvel and Disney –– if I had really stood my ground and said, ‘I don’t want to do this without James’ –– I think that they are decent enough that they would’ve let me out of my contract,” Bautista said about the situation.

“I wanted to bring it home. These guys are like family to me and I wanted to be involved in the third one,” he continued. “I wanted to use James’ script because it’s a beautiful script. Moving forward without James was a real personal issue with me.”

Regardless, fans won’t have to worry about the Guardians star going anywhere as Gunn has since been reinstated as the director behind the third Guardians film. After Gunn was rehired, the fan-favorite filmmaker took to social media for the first time since his firing last year, thanking fans for their continued support over the past few trying months.

“I am tremendously grateful to every person out there who has supported me over the past few months,” Gunn wrote on Twitter. “I am always learning and will continue to work at being the best human being I can be. I deeply appreciate Disney’s decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all. I have been, and continue to be incredibly humbled by your love and support. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Love to you all.”

Captain Marvel is now in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Studios films include Avengers: Endgame on April 26th and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.

What do you think Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is going to be about? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or join the conversation online by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things cosmic Marvel!

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