Dave Bautista Explains Why Marvel Studios Won't Be In Trouble As Legacy Actors Retire From the Franchise

Dave Bautista has made it no secret that his time in the MCU is coming to an end. The Drax the Destroyer actor has said on several occasions that he's ready to end his time playing the character with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marking his final outing in the role. And Bautista isn't the only Marvel actor whose character's stories have run their course. Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark/Iron Man and Chris Evans' Steve Rogers/Chris Evans have also run their course with the actors stepping back, but even with actors departing and character stories changing, Bautista isn't worried about what's next for Marvel Studios.

Speaking with Vulture, Bautista explained that Marvel has an extensive library to work with in terms of stories and material so there will always be new stories to tell for new actors, and, barring that, there's always the future opportunities for reboots.

"I don't think it's a problem, because the Marvel library is so extensive," Bautista. "They're gonna have material to draw from for well after I'm dead and gone. I know Disney has purchased Fox, and the X-Men have a whole extensive life ahead of them. That's going to be a whole new universe. Their library is just too extensive. There's so much there that they'll never run out of material or actors or superheroes. When they're past that, people will look back and just reboot stuff."

Marvel fans are already getting to see a bit of what the future holds for the MCU as is, even before most of its current stars step back. Marvel's Phase Four is built on a combination of familiar characters with continuing stories and new heroes as well with films such as Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: Now Way Home and others and, on the television side of things, the upcoming Loki, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and more. There's certainly no shortage of stories already in production and Bautista's not wrong when he says that there's much more material to mine from.

As for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Bautista has said that he's looking forward to getting back to working with his friends and fellow castmates and while he's got a "weird" relationship with Drax, he's looking forward to closing out the character's journey.

"I'm looking forward to being back with my friends. I like the camaraderie. I'm in a weird place with Drax because I've played Drax so many times, I'm on cruise control," Bautista recently told USA Today. "I love the character, but getting in the makeup, it's just a nightmare. I couldn't explain how awful it is. I hate to sound like one of those high-maintenance actors, but it's just traumatizing."

Bautista continued, "Once I'm in it and I'm on set with my friends and making this character come to life and interacting with these characters that I love so much as a fan, it's all fun and joy. Throughout the years, maybe because I've gotten older and more sensitive to it, [the makeup's] become more unbearable, but the one thing I'm just looking forward to is closing out this journey of Drax."

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