Dave Bautista has a great explanation why Marvel Studios shouldn’t be worried if their actors are aging out of their superhero roles in the MCU.
Actors aging out their roles shouldn’t be a problem for Marvel says Dave Bautista. The wrestler-turned-actor joined the MCU as Drax Destroyer in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy directed by James Gunn. Since then he’s appeared in three more films, with Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lined up for him.
However, after that, he’s done. Bautista made the headlines recently when he revealed that after the next Guardians of the Galaxy film, he’s ready to retire his MCU character. This was in line with Gunn’s separate statement saying that he, too, will also be wrapping up his Marvel stint with the much-anticipated movie. Bautista pointed out that by the time the threequel has come out, he would be 54 years old and would be too old to keep the physique of the shirtless member of the rag-tag cosmic team. This suddenly became a cause for concern as the public began wondering when their respective favorite heroes would walk away from the franchise because of their age.
Bautista tells Vulture, however, that this shouldn’t be something that worries Marvel Studios. The actor pointed out that even as the earlier wave of stars eventually retire from the MCU, Kevin Feige and his team still have a massive catalog of characters that they can debut and use, especially after they re-acquired the rights to the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and their tie-ins.
“I don’t think it’s a problem, because the Marvel library is so extensive. They’re gonna have material to draw from for well after I’m dead and gone.”
“I know Disney has purchased Fox, and the X-Men have a whole extensive life ahead of them. That’s going to be a whole new universe. Their library is just too extensive. There’s so much there that they’ll never run out of material or actors or superheroes.”
Ultimately, Bautista’s comment makes sense. There’s a plethora of characters in the Marvel catalog that are just waiting to make their live-action debut. They may not be well-known characters such as Spider-Man and Hulk, but it’s worth noting that the MCU was launched on the back of a B-list hero in Iron Man. The films and Robert Downey Jr., throughout the years, made the Avenger a household name as he became the poster boy for the universe. The Guardians of the Galaxy itself is an obscure team and bringing them in Phase 2 was such a massive risk. But just like before Marvel Studios, in partnership with their filmmakers, were able to make them the fan-favorites that they are now.
But writing off characters and introducing new ones also comes with problems. For starters, there’s no guarantee that the next Phases of the MCU will be as successful as the Infinity Saga was. Marvel has done a solid job thus far with just a few missteps here and there, but that can change moving forward. Even Bautista acknowledged that by the time veteran characters have been retired and they’re replaced by new ones, it will be “a whole new universe.”
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