Borys Kit from THR was right when he tweeted that Jason Momoa has not been offered the role and that Marvel hasn't chosen their Drax – until yesterday.
Beating out Isaiah Mustafa, Patrick Wade, and Momoa, former WWE heavyweight champion Dave Bautista has just landed the biggest role of his career.
Last seen in RZA's The Man with the Iron Fists, Bautista will play Drax the Destroyer in the intergalactic superhero film where he will costar with Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation) playing Peter Quill a.k.a. Star Lord.
Drax is green-skinned brute type, who in the comic books died as a human Arthur Douglas and was later resurrected as the most powerful member of the quirky team with a personal grudge against the mad villain, Thanos, who glimpsed in the mid-credits scene for The Avengers. Other characters include tree-like humanoid Groot, the assassin Gamora and gun-toting Rocket Raccoon, who is going to be realized through a combination of motion capture and digital animation.
James Gunn is directing a space-set actioner from his own screenplay.
Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe begins with Iron Man 3 on May 3rd, 2013, followed by Thor: The Dark World on November 8th, 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4th, 2014, and then Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1st, 2014.
It concludes with The Avengers 2 on May 1st, 2015 and Phase Three will begin with Ant-Man releases on November 6th, 2015.
Bautista can next be seen in Vin Diesel's upcoming action sequel Riddick, which opens September 6th, 2013.
