Some Marvel Cinematic Universe stars have put such a stamp on their characters that
it's become almost impossible to separate the two.
It's always kind of a shock to realize that other actors might have almost been cast in
a role like Jason Momoa, who auditioned for Drax before the role went to Dave Bautista
. We had a chance to sit down with Charlie Wen - former head of visual development at
Marvel Studios- for an exclusive interview to discuss the evolution of Drax's cinematic
design, how Jason Momoa almost joined the MCU...and how the character nearly ended up
looking like a very famous video game character.
When describing the original 1973 comic book design for Drax the Destroyer, you might use
terms like "simple," "distinct," and "extremely recognizable."
You might also add the terms "unbearably ridiculous" and "monumentally goofy" to that list.
The '70s were a different time, man.
"Cocaine's a hell of a drug."
Overall, Drax's outfit when he first appeared in Iron Man #55 is unforgettable...and also
impossible to put on the big screen without causing the audience to barf into their popcorn.
Naturally, Wen and his team at Marvel Studios never got anywhere close to these looks when
they began adapting Drax for the screen.
Before becoming the head of visual development at Marvel Studios, Charlie Wen also designed
Kratos, the murderous hero from the God of War video game franchise, for Sony.
The game first debuted in March 2005 after a few years of development.
Meanwhile, later that year, Marvel Comics happened to release a Drax the Destroyer mini-series
with a brand new design for the character.
Gone were the goofy purple tights and skull accessories.
Instead, Drax ditched the shirt and got some ink.
While the design was new to Drax, it definitely had more than a few similarities with Wen's
final Kratos design — something he'd discovered when someone sent the company a Drax comic
book.
"The funny part with Drax is that he ... When I was working on God of War back in the day,
somebody had sent me, or sent Sony, a Drax comic book.
And…
The thing is, we're like, 'Oh wow.
That looks a lot like Kratos.'
I remember that.
I remember at Sony, we were like, 'Oh man, what should we do about this?
They can't make it look' ... It looked so much like Kratos!"
So it came as a surprise when, just a few years later, Wen led the design department
at Marvel Studios...and found himself face-to-face with the challenge of having to adapt the
cosmic hero who already resembled a character he'd designed before.
"Then fast forward.
I'm like, 'Oh, this is that character.'
I didn't realize that.
Then it was like, how am I gonna make this character not look like the character I designed
for God of War?"
As Wen led his team through designs for Guardians of the Galaxy, the film's casting directors
hunted for the right actors.
One up-and-comer named Jason Momoa who'd found success with his portrayal of Khal Drogo in
HBO's Game of Thrones became a frontrunner to win the part of Drax.
"So, Jason Momoa sent in this amazing screen test, and of course he already knew how to
do those fighting positions.
He looked very convincing."
Wen created art depicting the actor in the role, featuring the Momoa's face on a lean-looking
Drax the Destroyer that's a clear step away from the Kratos-looking comics and much closer
to the final cinematic design.
As it turned out, however, while Momoa had the look and the moves to play Drax, he wasn't
quite right for the part at least not when compared with another actor vying for the
role, wrestler Dave Bautista.
"In a way it's like it didn't push that character the way that Bautista did.”
"That was the worst pep talk.
Ever."
"I think with Momoa in it, it felt like the Game of Thrones character that he played.
He has a great face for it.
We did some takes with Momoa as the character, as Drax, but ultimately I think Bautista really
took that role.
From that point on, too, it's like we designed it specifically for him."
Momoa himself seemed to agree that his casting wouldn't bring much that was new to the screen,
revealing why he ultimately turned down the role in a 2014 interview:
"I want my children to see their father happy.
It's not that it's not a good role, it just wasn't the right thing.
I was on Stargate: Atlantis for four years playing a similar character called Ronon,
who was an alien who didn't say much and grunted.
I've been there and done that, whether people have seen it or not.
You want to stretch."
Of course, no one could know back in 2014 that Momoa would go on to headline his very
own superhero movie a few years later with 2018's Aquaman, one of the tentpole films
of the DC Extended Universe — but that's another story.
So Momoa was out, and Bautista was in, and both Wen and Marvel movie fans would agree
that the right man was cast in the part.
“You know, Bautista brought this, sort of, a different side to it that nobody was expecting,
a little funny, but naturally funny.
It was like, wow this is a whole character.
He's bringing something to that character.
"I've mastered the ability of standing so incredibly still that I've become invisible
to the eye.
Watch."
"Ow!
My nipples!
Wauugghhhhh!"
"From that point on, it's like we designed it specifically for him.
Even the way his head is shaped."
If you take a look at one of the first pieces of concept art Kevin Feige unveiled to announce
Guardians of the Galaxy, you can definitely see the influence of Bautista himself on the
character's design.
Meanwhile, to further evolve Drax's cinematic look, Wen continued pushing the design away
from the clean lines of the mid-2000s Drax the one that had looked so much like Kratos.
Instead, he focused on making Drax's tattoos an integral part of the adapted character's
internal life.
“All the tattoos that went on him is really telling about his story.
His life is basically on his body.
And so, it's very complex.
It's not something that you would ever do for maybe a comic book or a video game because
it's just harder to read as an instant read.
But we definitely put more into his story with just his look, as well as pulled it away
from Kratos."
It's easy to see in this image that also features early versions of the other Guardians that
the tattoos are beginning to feature even more prominently in Drax's design — and
his intimidation factor.
"Character trait wise, he's not the most intelligent character in the world,
"Ha ha ha!
I have famously huge turds!"
but he's ... I think he's surprisingly loyal, but he's got his own sense of honor, you know
brutal honor that he lives by, his own brutal code.
Drax is just, everybody's afraid of him.
He's somebody that even people in prison are afraid of.
This is like an intergalactic prison, where you have all these huge characters that would,
I don't know, just look really scary and monstrous.
But Drax is somebody that can definitely hold his own to any of them."
Check out one of our newest videos here: Plus, even more exclusive Looper videos with Charlie
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