Former professional wrestler Dave Bautista has been officially cast as Drax the Destroyer in Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy movie. The six-time WWE World Champion and star of last years The Man with the Iron Fists directed by the RZA, is the second confirmed cast member after Chris Pratt who will play Star Lord aka Peter Quill, the leader of the Guardians. In the comics, Drax was originally a human called Arthur Douglas who was killed along with his entire family by the Mad Titan, Thanos (seen briefly at the end of The Avengers movie). Arthurs soul was saved by Kronos, a cosmic entity and one of the Eternals of Earth, and put into a powerful new (and green!) body to kill Thanos. Actor Damion Poitier is rumoured to join the cast as Thanos. Filming begins this summer at Shepperton Studios so the remaining cast are likely to be announced soon. Characters on the team yet to be cast include Gamora (the adopted daughter of Thanos and the last of her kind), Groot (a sentient alien tree-like creature), and Rocket Racoon (an anthropomorphic talking raccoon whos also an expert marksman). Guardians of the Galaxy was first published in 1969 but was recently revived in 2008 by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Currently the series is being re-launched by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Steve McNiven with the addition of Iron Man to the teams lineup. The movies plot synopsis is rumoured as: Galaxy centres on Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Pratt), a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants. Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled for release on 1st August 2014. source -
the hollywood reporter