Dave Bautista wants to be in both DC and Marvel's futures, but rules out a Drax return in the new Avengers movie: "The character ran its course"

Dave Bautista has once again ruled out a Drax return in the MCU – but remains surprisingly open to appearances either at Marvel or with his old Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn over at DC.

"Drax is completely closed to me. Unless James Gunn called me and asked if I would do something as Drax again, I just wouldn’t be interested," Bautista told ComicBook.com, while also pointing to Gunn's new position as co-CEO of DC Studios as an underlying reason why that's next to impossible: "If James called me, which obviously is not gonna happen. He’s doing okay, he’s gone a different route."

Bautista continued, "But I do wanna be in that world, I’m a fan of that world, I’m a fan of comic books and that whole universe. Marvel, DC, I just wanna be in it. I made that known to James, I made that known to the Russo brothers."

While Drax is off the table, Bautista – who has long been fancast as several comic book favorites, including Batman villains Bane and Hugo Strange – reveals he has talked to both Gunn and The Russos ahead of both the beginning of DCU Chapter One and filming of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

"Personally, I talked to them, all of them, and told them, ‘Don’t count me out. If there’s a character that I’d be right for and that you want me for, man, I’d be totally open-minded to it.’ It’s just the Drax character ran its course.”

Bautista appeared as the literal-minded powerhouse Drax in all three Guardians movies, as well as its Holiday Special on Disney Plus. The character then made further appearances in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder.

Avengers: Doomsday, featuring Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, is set to commence filming very soon. According to The Wrap, cameras start rolling on the latest Avengers movie in March – though its cast has been largely kept under wraps, with the exception of some of the Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four team members. Maybe, just maybe, there's room for Dave Bautista too.

For more, check out our guide to upcoming Marvel movies. Still playing catch-up? You'll need the Marvel timeline and a look at how to watch the Marvel movies in order.