Bautista talks Pratt, RDJ and Guardians chemistry in Infinity War

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Recently, while promoting his upcoming film BUSHWICK, a film in which Brittany Snow and the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY star try to survive an armed-to-the-teeth Texas militia, the former WWE star also engaged in a chin wag about AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. More specifically, Bautista spoke of the actor/character chemistry exhibited by Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) in the film.

While talking with Yahoo!, Bautista explained that he played a significant hand in shaping his Stupe character for BUSHWICK. According to the muscles-on-top-of-muscles actor, he improvised much of what we'll get to see in the final cut. With that in mind, Bautista was asked if we can expect there to be any Drax improv in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. The giant-sized hero then replied by saying, "I have a lot of interaction with Chris and Pom, and it’s always great when they let me play the straight man to Chris’s humor. When we said something funny, [the Russo brothers, who are directing Infinity War and the next Avengers film back-to-back] would come in after the take and go, “What was that you said? Say that again!” They were really excited about it." 

Whoa there, Drax. I know you're a funny dude, but you might want to make certain that you don't step all over a certain billionaire hero's coattails, my friend. I say this in jest, but it's entirely true that Robert Downey Jr. is known for ad-libbing much of his Iron Man/Tony Stark dialogue when working on the Marvel movies. With that being a topic of interest during the interview, Bautista was asked if he gets to share and comedic riffing moments with RDJ. To that, Bautista replied, "We do. I’m excited about some of the stuff we did, but I don’t know what’s going to make it in the film. I always thought there would be a lot of good interaction between Tony Stark and Drax, and there was. And Star-Lord and Tony Stark as well. When you put those two guys in a room together, it’s like a spontaneous combustion. Talk about two talented guys who are so witty and smart and honed-in on their craft. It was a spectacle, and I’m so excited I got to witness it firsthand."

Later in the interviewing process, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY director James Gunn stepped in to field a question or two about the actors who work with him to create such entertaining Marvel movie magic. When asked if he had any hands-on experience with crafting the Guardians-related scenes in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, the spiky-haired visionary replied, "Completely. I think one of the reasons we were so successful to begin with is because of James’s creativity. We had the luxury of him writing for us on Infinity War, and the Russos didn’t at all try to make us into something we weren’t. They encouraged us to own our characters and be the Guardians of the Galaxy, not their Guardians of the Galaxy."

Personally, I'm looking forward to hearing Drax crack wise with other members of the MCU, though I do hope that the writers tone down the character's overt misogyny, going forward. Don't get me wrong, I think Drax is hilarious, and enjoy that he's a core member of the Guardians team. With that being said, I didn't care for the way he spoke to Mantis in several scenes for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, and would very much like to see some character growth from him in the future. It's my hope that his continued affection for Mantis will help level him out a bit, as I want his character to be elevated to new heights not just in popularity but on the inside as well. 

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR  will arrive in theaters on May 4, 2018.