Credit: Marvel StudiosThe final installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise as we know it has left fans crying tears of joy and sadness, taking audiences on an emotional roller coaster to wrap up the story of the Guardians.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) tells the story of Rocket, the sarcastic but lovable anthropomorphic raccoon. The movie reveals his tragic backstory, how he was experimented on by the High Evolutionary, and how he was able to escape. It’s a heartbreaking tale of animal cruelty and just how far people can go in the name of science with an overall happy ending. In the end, Quill leaves the Guardians, bestowing the captaincy onto Rocket to lead the next group of Guardians with Groot.
With the end of the original trilogy of the Guardians, fans were shown almost every character as a child, able to relive their backstories with them, with one notable exception. Drax is never shown as a child nor is the loss of his family ever actually seen by viewers. When he joins the Guardians in the first film, he says that Ronan killed his wife and his daughter so he’s sworn vengeance upon him. He reminisces about his daughter in the second film, and in the third film he’s able to once again step into the role of a dad for the children rescued from the High Evolutionary.
While Drax is often shown as a bit of a goofball who misunderstands jokes and sarcasm, he’s essentially the dad figure of the group throughout the films, it’s just overshadowed by everything else. Like every other character, he found a new family within the Guardians, a new place to call home, and a new way to be a “father.” His choice to stay with the children on Knowhere makes perfect sense for his character, as does the fact that viewers never see him as a child.
His backstory wasn’t tragic until he was already an adult, unlike most of the other characters. The choices each character makes, Quill, Gamora, and Rocket, are made because of the tragedies they endured as children that followed them as they grew older. From what fans know of Drax, his life was relatively happy and problem free until his family was murdered. Therefore, it makes sense that he’s never shown as a child, it has no influence on who his character is.
With Dave Bautista announcing he’s retiring from the role of Drax, it’s unlikely fans will ever see a live-action version of his childhood or backstory, but they don’t need to. Drax got the revenge he so desperately wanted, found a family when he thought he had lost it forever, and finally got a second chance to be an actual father to an entire group of children that need him. For what was originally a comedic side character, Drax has evolved so much from the first film.
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