And Jim Carrey isn’t. This is basically good news for everybody. Guardians Of The Galaxy is the bizarre outlier in Marvel’s upcoming superhero slate. The protagonists are a team of space-faring rejects that include a talking raccoon, his best friend a sentient tree, and a couple dudes in weird helmets. So not exactly Spider-Man caliber name recognition here.
The film has just started casting, with Chris Pratt (from Parks & Recreation and Zero Dark Thirty) getting the lead role of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, and now the Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on who’s playing the meaty green psychopath known as Drax the Destroyer.
A number of Hollywood’s buffest actors were in line for the part, including Jason Momoa (Conan), Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice guy) and Patrick Wade. But the part went to former WWE wrestler and current mixed martial artist Dave Bautista. Bautista has been pursuing acting more intensely in recent years, and he will also play the antagonist in the upcoming Riddick opposite Vin Diesel.
Drax is a pretty bizarre character in the comic books – he was an ordinary suburban dad killed for no reason by the superpowerful Thanos, then raised from the grave by some other cosmic entity, turned green and given immeasurable strength and durability. He’s also not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Thankfully, some other recent casting rumors were also dispelled this week. We previously mentioned that both Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler were in line for roles in the film, which would… not be good. Carrey busted those rumors at SXSW last week, saying that he’s never even heard of the movie. You and the rest of America, dude.
So we have a sitcom star and a former fake fighter. Who will be next and how do they expect to sell this movie to anybody but the nerdiest of nerds?