James Gunn Picks Which Guardian Of The Galaxy Deserves A Solo Movie

Guardians of the Galaxy character poster Marvel

You can probably guess the Guardian of the Galaxy that James Gunn would most like to see get his own solo Marvel movie. Not that we would be able to see the star of the movie when he's invisible.

Yes, as part of an Instagram Story Q&A, Guardians of the Galaxy writer/director James Gunn picked his buddy Dave Bautista's Drax as the Guardian he'd most like to see get his own movie:

James Gunn Istagram Story Drax Marvel movie

Would you have picked Drax? I'd love more screen time for Drax the Destroyer, but he needs other characters to bounce off of, and that's why the Guardians are great together. I'd like to give him more scenes with Mantis (Pom Klementieff), guffawing as she keeps embarrassing people with her empathic powers. He should also get more screen time with handsome, muscular man Thor -- or not muscular, if "Fat Thor" returns.

I'd also consider standalone movies for Rocket, Nebula, or even dancing/moody/evolving Groot. It's hard to pick one Guardian to single out when they are such a team, having their best scenes together. Not that a "solo" movie would mean Drax walking the earth alone. Captain America: Civil War, for example, was packed with MCU characters, and a Guardians solo movie might just give one of that crew the opportunity to work more with non-Guardians.

Dave Bautista has spoken in the past about wanting Drax to get his own movie, and he knows exactly what he wants to see from it:

I really wish they would tell the story of Drax's family. I think it's a beautiful story and I think it's been lost and overlooked a little bit. It's a beautiful and heartbreaking emotional thing to know where that love for his family and that heartbreak over his family being lost and murdered, where it comes from I think... I really pushed and fought for the Drax standalone film, but I don't think it's ever going to happen. I really wish they would because I think there's a story to be told there and I think the fans would really love to see that story, even if it's not me portraying Drax, I just still think it is an interesting story to tell.

If Drax doesn't get his own movie, maybe Disney+ could give him one of those new shows to tell the story. Dave Bautista has talked about his "nightmare" audition for Drax in Guardians in the Galaxy. He was "terrified," since he had hardly worked in three years and had gone broke from wrestling. He obviously landed the gig after some effort, and now he is James Gunn's biggest champion.

Dave Bautista was quick to speak up for James Gunn when Gunn was fired by Disney/Marvel after offensive tweets resurfaced. He knew that defending Gunn could've affected his career, at least with Disney, but he also said he thought Disney knew early on that firing Gunn was a bad call. The House of Mouse just needed to find a way out of that decision.

Now the universe has course-corrected. James Gunn is back on the team writing and directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but because of the firing delay, DC's The Suicide Squad managed to get Gunn on its own dance card -- and they're on the floor first.

The Suicide Squad is filming right now, and instead of Guardians 3 arriving in theaters in 2020, as originally hoped to give the MCU three movies in 2020, it's showing up later down the road. Presumably in MCU Phase 5. Guardians 3 is expected to continue Gamora's alternate timeline storyline. Fans are also hoping to see more of Thor with the Guardians, and there are cool ways Thor: Love and Thunder could connect to Guardians 3. Will we also see Adam Warlock in Vol. 3?

Back to a Guardians solo movie, though. Which character would you have picked, if asked the same question as James Gunn?

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Gina Carbone

Gina grew up in Massachusetts and California in her own version of The Parent Trap. She went to three different middle schools, four high schools, and three universities -- including half a year in Perth, Western Australia. She currently lives in a small town in Maine, the kind Stephen King regularly sets terrible things in, so this may be the last you hear from her.