Dave Bautista Gives Emotional Goodbye To Drax And Guardians Of The Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy star Dave Bautista has penned an emotional goodbye to his character Drax.

Director James Gunn confirmed on Sunday, 8 May, that filming for the third and final instalment of the blockbuster trilogy had wrapped, and now former WWE star Bautista has shared his thoughts.

Taking to Instagram with a snap of himself and some of his co-stars – including Chris Pratt and Karen Gillan – Bautista wrote: “Haven't found the words yet.”

He continued: "It ended so suddenly and I was on to my next film before I could process it all. End of a journey that changed my life.”

Bautista has played Drax the Destroyer – a former intergalactic criminal turned lovable hero – in all three of the Gunn-directed Marvel films.

Over the weekend, Gunn penned his own lengthy farewell to Guardians of the Galaxy, after nearly a decade of working on the films. 

Confirming that the threequel had wrapped, he shared a touching post with his two million followers reflecting on all three movies. 

Gunn wrote in part: “After over 100 days of shooting & over 3000 shots, this is the slate for the final shot of #GotGVol3, presented to me by the camera crew. It was an easy shot of Rocket seated, 1st with @seangunn, & then nothing there, & took everything in me not to break down sobbing on the spot.”

He continued: “The majority of the last ten years of my life have been spent working on & thinking about the Guardians. I still have a long road ahead of me with VFX & editing, but it was still momentous to me.

“It is somewhat simple to explain to others how much I love this cast & crew. It is more difficult to explain how much I love these characters – that I see them as parts of myself & parts of those I love, & filming them, & writing their words, is a way of expressing that love.

"Again, I'll still be working with them over the next year until release, but shooting that last shot was a reminder of the warm impermanence of life & love, & how that impermanence makes it so precious, so valuable, & is a good reason to be grateful for what I have right now." 

During an interview with UNILAD last year, the director confirmed the third Guardians instalment would be the last.

Gunn shared: “It’s the end of my run on Guardians, as I see it. It’s the end of Dave’s run. It’s really telling the story… we’re getting a lot more on the story of Rocket and who Rocket is. He’s the character I feel closest to.”

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