Dave Batista recently spoke with Raising Whasians about his role in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2; you can read a few excerpts below:
Batista comments on what he loves most about his role as Drax the Destroyer:
You know what I love most about him? It’s that he is not what people expect. Like when I did the first one, I think people expected Drax to be a certain way, and James went the totally opposite way with him. If you take a big guy and he looks menacing and he looks terrified, it’s easy to be that guy on screen, you know? You growl a lot. You snarl a lot. You cut people’s heads off and it’s easy. There’s just nothing challenging about it. But to be THAT guy and look THAT way, but then to make people laugh. I think is the challenge. And I think that’s the fun part, and that’s what I love about Drax. I think it’s fair to say that there’s a lot more of that in this film. I think Drax just has a bigger role in this film.
Batista comments on what coming back to a sequel in the new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 means to him:
It’s the first reoccurring role for me, so it was weird because now I got to be part of the screen testing process rather than screen testing for myself. But also I realized how comfortable I was in the role. Even when I watched the first film I can see that I transitioned from being like very nervous and very uncomfortable to being very comfortable and really getting to know Drax. Also being comfortable on a big set, ‘cause it was a huge deal for me.
[There’s] way less pressure. I’m already so comfortable. And now I feel like I am Drax and I own Drax; he’s my character. Of course the brain behind Drax is James, but James has written this role for me. He knows what my strengths are now. He just has a good idea of who Drax should be. And I think he really knows how fans want Drax to be as well. But I just feel so comfortable in the role and it’s just been much, much easier and no pressure. There’s a little bit of pressure now that I watched Captain America [LAUGH] and it was so well-done. And I was like “Wow, it’s a hard act to follow.” Marvel just keeps stepping it up, man. They just keep stepping it up.
Batista says he’d personally like to see his character get to face off with Thanos:
I’d like to see my character in The Avengers. [LAUGH] You know, this is wishful thinking. I’d like to see my character stick it to Thanos, but that’s just me. Those are personal things. Otherwise, I’m pretty satisfied with the character. He’s actually more than I ever thought he could be or really wished that he could be. But I have to give a lot of credit to James for that. He’s been the creative mind behind Drax. He’s really created an incredible character.
