You need a big man to play a big superhuman character. And while Marvel Studios reportedly flirted with “Conan The Barbarian“/”Game Of Thrones” star Jason Momoa, the role has gone to someone else. THR reports that WWE wrestler Dave Bautista has closed his deal to play Drax The Destroyer in their upcoming adaptation of “Guardians Of The Galaxy.” Other actors up for the role apparently included Isaiah Mustafa and Patrick Wade.
According to the comics, Drax started out as Arthur Douglas, a regular old human whose family was attacked and killed by the supervillain Thanos (the big guy at the end of “The Avengers,” which leads many to believe “Guardians Of The Galaxy” will lead into the Joss Whedon‘s 2015 sequel). Needing a champion to combat Thanos, the being known as Kronos took Arthur’s spirit and placed it in a powerful new body, and Drax the Destroyer was born. He eventually becomes a part of the interstellar heroes team known as the “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Bautista is the second actor cast in the movie after Chris Pratt, who scored the lead role of the half-human/half-alien intergalactic vigilante Peter Quill/Star-Lord. Still to be cast are the giant tree man, Groot, the genetically-engineered animal and gun-savy Rocket Raccoon, and Gamora, an ex-Thanos assassin and also the last survivor of her species. Marvel head Kevin Feige recently said the 95% of the film will be set in space. No word on the rumors that Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler could voice some characters, but those reports felt a little premature.
The James Gunn-directed film arrives on August 1, 2014.
