Dave Bautista Details Drax’s Innocent Connection With Mantis

Mantis was one of the new characters introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Through the movie, the empathic Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff, developed a surprising bond with Drax the Destroyer, played for the second time by Dave Bautista.

While some fans have read into this relationship as being something romantic, and others have interpreted it as a father-daughter relationship, Bautista believes that Drax and Mantis are closer to being the children of the extended Guardians of the Galaxy family.

“We have decided that Drax and Mantis share a very childlike innocence, and I think that links them together,” Bautista tells CinemBlend. “More than anything he’s taken on a big brother type role. That’s the way I look at it — not so much Mantis being a surrogate daughter, but almost like a little sister. That’s what the relationship, to me, feels more like. And that’s kind of the way we play it.”

Mantis survived the destruction of Ego’s planet and is no longer Ego’s slave, so it seems likely that Mantis and Drax’s sibling bond will be further explored in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, or perhaps even sooner in Avengers: Infinity War.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 currently has an 87.36 ComicBook.com Composite Score, the fourth-highest ComicBook.com Composite Score for a comic book movie of all time. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also has a 4.54 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Rating, giving it the second-highest ComicBook.com user rating among all comic book movies. Let us know what you thought of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 by giving it your own ComicBook.com user rating below.

Set to the backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2,’ Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is now playing in theaters.

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