Marvel Studios’ Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises will finally come together when the mightiest heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe link up to take on Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War and the currently unnamed Avengers 4, and Dave Bautista — who plays super strong and super literal Drax, the most outrageous member of the Guardians — says fans can expect “a lot of good interaction” between the cosmic a-holes and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a.k.a. Iron Man.
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“I’m excited about some of the stuff we did, but I don’t know what’s going to make it in the film,” Bautista tells Yahoo when asked if he got to riff with Downey Jr., who has a reputation for improvising on set. “I always thought there would be a lot of good interaction between Tony Stark and Drax, and there was.”
Bautista says the same of the interplay between Stark and Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), the Guardians’ snarky, quippy leader. “When you put those two guys in a room together, it’s like a spontaneous combustion. Talk about two talented guys who are so witty and smart and honed-in on their craft,” Bautista shares. “It was a spectacle, and I’m so excited I got to witness it firsthand.”
According to Bautista, improv was encouraged by Avengers: Infinity War directors Joe and Anthony Russo.
“I have a lot of interaction with Chris and Pom [Klementieff, who plays the empathetic Mantis], and it’s always great when they let me play the straight man to Chris’ humor,” Bautista says. “When we said something funny, [the Russo brothers] would come in after the take and go, ‘What was that you said? Say that again!’ They were really excited about it.”
The Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War directors worked with Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 writer and director James Gunn in crafting the Guardians’ scenes for Infinity War, with Bautista praising his two-time Guardians director as well as the directing duo’s collaborative spirit.
“I think one of the reasons we were so successful to begin with is because of James’ creativity,” Bautista says. “We had luxury of him writing for us on Infinity War, and the Russos didn’t at all try to make us into something we weren’t. They encouraged us to own our characters and be the Guardians of the Galaxy, not their Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Bautista, Pratt, Klementieff, and Downey Jr. are part of an expansive cast that includes Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bethany, Sebastian Stan, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Chadwick Boseman, and Josh Brolin as the villain Thanos.
Avengers: Infinity War opens May 4, 2018, with Avengers 4 arriving May 3, 2019.
