James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy wrapped up with last May's Vol. 3 and, while we expect to see at least some of those characters again, it was a chance for others to bid farewell to their time in the MCU.
Dave Bautista always seemed a tad dissatisfied with how things played out for him as Drax; Marvel Studios never made good on its promise to pit him against Thanos and the Destroyer grew increasingly less serious thanks to the actor's perfect comic timing.
He's since said that he's done with Marvel but seems keen to join Gunn's new DCU (while he was once a popular choice to play Bane, many fans now hope to see him become Hugo Strange).
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, the pro wrestler turned Hollywood A-Lister admitted he doesn't miss Drax but does miss the bond the Guardians of the Galaxy cast formed.
"No, I wouldn't say I miss him," Bautista started. "What I do miss is the family environment. It's hard knowing that we will never be on set together again. Me, Chris, Zoe, Pom, Karen, Sean Gunn, James Gunn - it's never going to happen again. It's hard to live with that. I also never really had closure on that part of my career."
"Even though it's gone and in the past, I never got to say goodbye to everyone. I never got to go to the premiere and have fun with everybody and cry and say goodbye. I never got that."
He added, "My last night on Guardians was actually [The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special]. We shot Guardians 3 and the Holiday Special concurrently. So our last night filming was here in Hollywood, and we wrapped at 3 or 4 in the morning. And then I literally had to run to the hotel, get my bags, jump on a jet and fly to Philadelphia to start Knock at the Cabin two days later."
"So I never really got to say goodbye to everyone. I got rushed off set to another film. I was then on another film, and I didn't do press or make the premiere for Guardians 3," Bautista explained. "So there's just a huge part of me that feels like there was no closure. I never really got to say goodbye to that character and that cast, and there's always going to be some sadness involved when I start thinking about that."
Whether that sadness would be enough to convince him to return is hard to say; Marvel Studios teased plans for the Legendary Star-Lord at the end of Vol. 3 but, as we write this, there's no indication that a solo project is in the works for Chris Pratt's Peter Quill.
As for Rocket's team of Guardians, their current status is also a mystery to us, though we know they're out there somewhere fighting the good fight.
Would you like to see more of Bautista's Drax the Destroyer in the MCU?