Guardians of the Galaxy 3 star recalls accidentally punching Dave Bautista in the face while filming the Marvel movie

Guardians of the Galaxy 3's Will Poulter has recalled an on-set accident from his MCU experience – one that involved accidentally punching wrestler-turned-actor David Bautista in the face.

The actor played antagonist Adam Warlock in the 2023 Marvel movie, an artificial being created with the purpose of destroying the Guardians. Bautista played Drax the Destroyer in the franchise, a member of the Guardians.

"We’re doing this fight sequence and I grew up watching Dave [Bautista], as a wrestler and then as an actor. I’m a bit nervous," he said during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show.

"I haven’t done a ton of fight choreography. Anyway, we’re doing this fight scene and I accidentally punched Dave straight in the face."

Poulter, who was painted gold for the role, went on to recount seeing Bautista having to be made up because he had a golden fist imprinted on his eye. "You realize when you do films, you’re so much better off handing over to the stunt people," he added.

Next up on the big screen for Poulter is Warfare, an action movie directed by Ex Machina's Alex Garland and former Navy SEAL Ray Mendoza. The cast also includes Reservation Dogs' D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Shogun's Cosmo Jarvis, and Fantastic Four: First Steps' Joseph Quinn.

He's also set to reprise his Black Mirror role as game designer Colin Ritman in the upcoming seventh season of the sci-fi show, which arrives on Netflix on April 10.

Warfare arrives in US theaters on April 11 and UK cinemas on April 18. For more viewing inspiration, check out our guide to the rest of this year's upcoming movies.