Vin Diesel Inspired Guardians of the Galaxy’s Drax (So Why Wasn’t He Cast?)

Vin Diesel is known for voicing the verbally-limited Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and the Avengers crossovers, but he also inspired James Gunn’s adaptation of Drax the Destroyer before being cast as the talking tree. The Guardians of the Galaxy have gone through a large number of variations in the comics, with assorted members of the team that range from Iron Man to Cosmo the Space Dog. The most famous line-up, however, is the one popularized by the MCU, consisting of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Drax (Dave Bautista).

Drax was particularly a very different character for most of his comic book history. He was introduced in 1973 as a flying, energy-shooting, saxophone-playing, caped superhero. His original identity is Arthur Douglas, a human real estate agent who’s killed by Thanos, along with his wife and daughter, when the Mad Titan bumps into them in the Mojave desert. Thanos’ father, A’lars, sought the help of his father, Kronos, to transfer Arthur’s soul into a humanoid body as a sort of backup weapon in case Thanos’ thirst for power got out of hand, thus Drax the Destroyer was born.

Both Groot and Drax have undergone drastic changes in relation to their comic book origins. Evidently, Vin Diesel was a big influence for James Gunn’s revised vision of Groot. But the Fast & Furious star also had a hand in the live-action reimagining of Drax.

How Annihilation Was Used For Guardians of the Galaxy Movie

The 2006 storyline Annihilation is a cosmic-centered adventure that gathers major intergalactic Marvel characters such as Nova, Silver Surfer, Thanos, Galactus, and of course, Drax the Destroyer, when Annihilus threatens to conquer the universe with his army, the Annihilation Wave. Although Annihilation is a way more convoluted and extensive story than both Guardians of the Galaxy movies, it provided James Gunn’s movies with an array of suitable concepts. For instance, Annihilation focused on a galactic conflict that brings different alien races together in order to stop a power-hungry tyrant from expanding his empire (Annihilus instead of Ronan), with the Nova Corps as an ineffective force of order. It also established the bases for the MCU’s initial roster of cosmic characters with Drax, Star-Lord, Gamora, Nebula, Ronan, Thanos, and Korath playing important roles in the story.

Annihilation also brought radical changes to Drax that would become part of the definitive version of the character. Once Annihilation reenvisioned him as a more grounded version of his former self, he was no longer a superpowered humanoid, but a more realistic alien similar to the MCU’s muscle-bound, naturally-tattooed tank with twin daggers that fans have come to know and love. His human origin was far in the past, as well as his purple cape and his flight and energy-blasting abilities. Similar to his first stint with the MCU’s Guardians, he also had to survive in a space prison before finally getting the chance to avenge his family – although in Annihilation, Drax actually managed to kill Thanos by ripping the villain’s heart out with his bare hand.

How Vin Diesel’s Riddick Inspired The New Drax Design

When the MCU reached enough cosmic extravaganza with the first two Thor movies and The Avengers, it was ready to dive into farther corners of the universe. However, most of the Guardians of the Galaxy storylines and line-ups from the comics were still too extravagant for an accurate adaptation. So, Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige and director James Gunn needed to strike a balance between a groundbreaking innovation for the next Phases of the MCU and a more familiar interpretation of the sci-fi genre to keep the first Guardians of the Galaxy friendly to new audiences. Although it isn’t a direct source of inspiration for the movie, the Chronicles of Riddick franchise made an action star out of its otherwise unexceptional protagonist, which is what the live-action Drax needed to replicate with the same effectivity that the Annihilation comics did.

The 2000 sci-fi horror film Pitch Black may not be the most lauded title ever, but its strong cult following helped it spawn a considerably successful franchise that consists of live-action sequels, short films, video games, and comics. As the name of the Chronicles of Riddick franchise suggests, its story centers around the anti-hero Riddick (Vin Diesel), the last survivor of a warrior race equipped with artificially-enhanced eyes and a penchant for (near-)shirtless fights with twin daggers.

Beyond the aesthetic similarities to Drax, Riddick also begins as a prisoner on a transport ship that crashes in the desert (similar to Drax’s introduction in Annihilation, where he crashes in Alaska). Riddick managed to take a pretty conventional interpretation of a badass antihero and turn it into a memorable character. Instead of his constant complicated – and sometimes unexplained – resurrections from the comics, Drax could easily draw inspiration from Vin Diesel’s straightforward performance as Riddick in order to skip his original caped humanoid form and exploit his modern bloodlusted persona. Clearly, a fruitful decision.

Why Vin Diesel Wasn’t Cast As Drax the Destroyer

Recent movies like Bloodshot and the Fast & Furious franchise have cast the image of a “wooden actor” on Vin Diesel, but his talent for playing hardened action heroes played in his favor for Riddick’s high-voltage adventures. From his physicality to his compelling handling of the film’s gloomy yet ridiculously fun premise, the actor nailed everything Riddick never really aimed for but so desperately required to become something more than another edgy action hero. With the unstoppable success of the MCU little more than a decade later, Vin Diesel’s name kept resurfacing among the most coveted actors for an MCU superhero role due to his action star persona. His booming voice reminded many fans of Black Bolt, but ironically enough, he ended up playing Drax’s teammate, Groot.

Guardians of the Galaxy had another priority besides opening up the cosmic side of the MCU: intensifying its sense of humor. James Gunn’s unprecedented amount of creative freedom and Chris Pratt’s lead role are undeniable proof of the MCU’s early commitment to comedy. So, Vin Diesel as a comedic Drax was a bit of a stretch, hence why Gunn pursued Dave Bautista for so long while considering Jason Momoa as a backup plan if the WWE star couldn’t come to an agreement. Neither Bautista nor Momoa had demonstrated the full range of their acting and comedic chops by then, but if their performances as Drax and Aquaman are anything to go by, Gunn surely knew exactly what he was looking for – including Vin Diesel’s voice talent.

Drax the Destroyer is now one of the many beloved characters in the MCU despite his small presence in the comics for several decades. It’s clear that Dave Bautista, James Gunn, and Kevin Feige understood exactly how much the character needed to depart from his origin as well as from Annihilation‘s slightly convoluted reimagining. Still, Vin Diesel’s voice role as Groot shouldn’t obscure his important contribution to Drax or his potential to portray a full-fledged superhero outside the Guardians of the Galaxy.

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