Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Dave Bautista's Last Film?

No one was expecting this: Dave Bautista will move on from his popular role as Drax after the upcoming "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3". The US actor announced this in the course of a promotional interview for his upcoming movie "Army of the Dead" and has a very reasonable explanation for his decision. On the one hand, his contract with Marvel ends after "Guardians of the Galaxy 3", on the other hand, he wished that more would have been made of his character. He does have a point, after all, Drax brings an interesting character and background story that Marvel, in his opinion, had completely forgotten about. However, he himself expressly emphasizes that this is not an attack on Marvel, given that Marvel has its own plans for the MCU. Director James Gunn was the first to express his regret, making it clear that there could be no other Drax than Bautista, even though he accepted the actor's decision. In order to prevent misunderstandings, Bautista also let the fans know that the character Drax will of course live on in the MCU, but merely without him as a cast member. 

Especially interesting in this regard is a statement by James Gunn regarding a 4th part. In fact, it is supposed to end after Part 3, though on Twitter Gunn didn't really give a clear "no" when asked whether he would direct Part 4. Thus, Part 4 shouldn't be completely ruled out, although the signs are more in favor of an end after the 3rd Part. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to be released at the beginning of May 2023.