James Gunn Had an Idea for Drax & Mantis Movie, and Marvel Hasn’t Ruled It Out

Earlier today came a surprise revelation from Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista, who revealed that director James Gunn had an idea for spin-off from the franchise. Though Gunn no doubt has a variety of different ideas for the MCU, this particular movie idea focused on Bautista’s character Drax and Pom Klementieff‘s Mantis. Bautista seemed to cast doubt on the likelihood of this happening considering Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 slate that was officially confirmed last year, but even though he’s not sure James Gunn himself is here to say otherwise. Confirming that the story is true, the filmmaker revealed that the idea could still happen.

Bautista confirmed the news when asked if he would want to bring his character Drax to Disney+ like so many of the other characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor turned down the idea considering how long he would need to spend on the make-up, but teased Gunn’s idea, telling Collider:

“What I would like to do is honestly, and this is not my idea, I’m stealing this idea, James Gunn had the idea to do a Drax/Mantis movie, and that’s what I’d be up for because there’s just too much fun there…Well, he wanted to do it, he had an idea for it. It’s just Marvel has their slot for the next five years and they know how their story is going to go. It’s hard for them just to have an idea for a film and say ‘Yeah, we want to fit that into here.’ It just didn’t fit into their schedule.”

If a Drax/Mantis movie were to happen it likely wouldn’t be until after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 which is actively in development at the studio. Bautista and Klementieff are both expected to reprise their roles for the sequel, which has Gunn attached as writer/director once again. The filmmaker, currently working on The Suicide Squad for Marvel’s Distinguished Competition, has revealed he won’t start working on the third film until he’s completed his work on his next movie first.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has yet to set a release date. Other upcoming Marvel Studios movies include Black Widow on May 1st, The Eternals on November 6,th, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022.