Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is one of the most anticipated films of the year, but the excitement has also been met with great sadness, as Dave Bautista announced he won’t be returning to MCU after the next installment.
Now, the hype of Vol. 3 has been building since 2017, when it was first announced that the series was set to become a trilogy.
“I think really that the 3 movies work together as a whole, they’re going to tell one story,” said James Gunn at Vol. 2‘s premiere.
“This is the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and we’re going to get to know the characters even better in the same way we got to know them much better in this film than the first one.”
The new movie marks the return of the director, who never actually really left as he has directed both of the previous movies. However, he was fired and then re-hired by Disney as a result of some old tweets.
“The offensive attitudes and statements discovered on James’ Twitter feed are indefensible and inconsistent with our studio’s values, and we have severed our business relationship with him,” said Alan Horn, Walt Disney Studios chairman, back in July 2018.
“When I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo,” Gunn responded. “As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.”
“My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over,” he explained.
The whole debacle caused uproar across Hollywood, and with fans even creating a petition to reinstate the Scooby-Doo director at the helm of the franchise once again. This petition managed to garner over 300,000 signatures.
Key cast members including Zoe Saldaña, Bradley Cooper and Chris Pratt also released a statement in support of the director, and so, by March 2019, it was publicly confirmed that Gunn was back on board for the movie.
The new flick features all of the old cast favorites, including Saldaña, Cooper, Pratt, as well as Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista. There are some new names in the mix too — Chukwudi Iwuji stars as High Evolutionary and Will Poulter as the long-awaited character Adam Warlock.
Fans are already certain the movie is going to be an emotional one, with it set to be the last one containing the full original cast. Many have taken to the trailer’s comments section to echo this sentiment.
“Anyone else getting the foreboding sense of finality from this trailer? Haven’t seen the movie and I’m already getting emotional,” one person said.
Another commented: “The fact that we know this will be the last [Guardians of the Galaxy] movie with all the original characters makes this a thousand times more heartbreaking.”
A third wrote: “I remember watching the first Guardians when I was twenty-two years old… I’m thirty now and seeing my guys in pain is actually making me emotional.”
A fourth said: “This looks like it’s gonna be epic, hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time. Can’t wait to see it!”
Despite fans going crazy over the latest trailer, Bautista’s latest comments have left fans feeling deflated, as he’s announced he won’t be returning as the beloved character, Drax after this movie.
Speaking to GQ about his decision, Bautista revealed that while he does love the character, he doesn’t want the role to define his career.
He said: “I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him. But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Draw to be my legacy – it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”
Although he’s moving on from the role, Bautista has suggested that Drax could be recast by Marvel, so we’ll have to wait and see!
