Guardians of the Galaxy Director Shares Heartwarming Birthday Message for Dave Bautista, Throws Shade at Chris Pratt

Happy Birthday, Dave Bautista! January 18th marks the 51st birthday of the wrestler turned actor who is best known for playing Drax in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many people have been sending well wishes to Bautista in honor of his special day, including some of his Marvel co-workers. James Gunn, who directed Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, took to Twitter and Instagram to honor Bautista and managed to include a hilarious dig at another Guardians star: Chris Pratt.

“Happy Birthday to @DaveBautista, a guy I’m lucky to be sharing my Guardians journey with, and the best friend a guy could have. Love you, buddy! ❤️ PS Who’s that dude photobombing our special moment?,” Gunn jokingly captioned the photo, which featured him with Bautista and Pratt.

The actors have yet to comment on the posts, but we’re willing to bet Pratt will eventually chime in with a comeback. Here’s the original tweet:

Many people commented on the photo:

“I think it’s Chris Evans…. Or maybe Chris Hemsworth,” @Welshy_G joked.

“Whose green nails are those? Somebody got cut out of that pic,” @TiffLovesMarvel pointed out.

“Get Dave in the DCEU for his birthday, James,” @isystematic_ suggested.

While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is not on Marvel’s Phase Four line-up, the film is expected to happen sometime in the future with Gunn returning to direct. In the meantime, he’s working on DC’s The Suicide Squad, which stars Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag) and Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang) as well as franchise newcomers Idris Elba, Michael Rooker, Peter Capaldi, Nathan Fillion, John Cena, Sean Gunn, David Dastmalchian, Storm Reid, and Taika Waititi. Other cast additions include Pete Davidson, Juan Diego Botto, Joaquin Cosio, Flula Borg, Tinashe Kajese, Jennifer Holland, Julio Ruiz, Alice Braga, Steve Agee, and Daniela Melchior.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1st, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in the Fall, The Eternals on November 6th, WandaVision in 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.