James Gunn is always very quick to own up to the opportunities he has missed or the things he had gotten wrong on his movies. Although Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been a huge success on all fronts, Gunn today had to make an apology to Dave Bautista and fans for a “mistake” that he made with the former wrestler’s character of Drax the Destroyer.
You could be mistaken for thinking that this is a reference to the often criticized lack of backstory given to Drax over the course of his Marvel appearances when compared to his comic book counterpart, but no it is something even more unforgivable. The fact that Gunn never included Drax’s abilities as a saxophonist. Yes, that is what Gunn “apologized” for via his Twitter account on the back of a fan sharing their feelings of disappointment that Drax had not been seen blasting out a tune at some point in the movies. As can be seen in the post below, when faced with the disappointed fan, Gunn explained:
“I know. Dave Bautista has been taking sax lessons for ten years all to no avail. Maybe he can star in the Stan Getz biopic. Sorry, Dave!”
Perhaps fans of Drax’s saxy side have been left singing the blues over the omission of a musical interlude, but it is hard to really get too worked up about it considering how well received Gunn’s conclusion to his Guardians trilogy has been. Of course, while Drax doesn’t get to play saxophone in the movie, sax fans hanging around for the closing credits can listen instead to a blistering Clarence Clemons solo on Springsteen’s ‘Badlands’, which plays as the final song on the movie’s amazing soundtrack.
How Successful Will Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 be by the End of Its Run?
When it comes to box office performance, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 seems certain to pass many other Marvel movies, including recent releases like Thor: Love and Thunder and possibly even Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which landed just short of a magic $1 billion. The film’s emotional core and culminating quality is something that has brought many more Marvel fans out to the cinema than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania managed in February despite having the added draw of Kang’s full introduction.
Of course, once its box office run is over, Guardians 3 can still make a huge impact when it subsequently arrives on Disney+. There has ben no announcement yet of exactly when that will be, but considering Quantumania has just released now, it is likely we will see Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Drax et al hit the small screen sometime late summer.
For James Gunn, Drax sax or no Drax sax, there is very little that could have been done to make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 more of a success than it already has been. However, it is certain to lose it’s box office crown this weekend when Fast X rolls into town, with The Little Mermaid ready to come up for air on May 26.
