Skip to main content
Join The Community
- Join our community
11
Premium Benefits
24/7
Access Available
21K+
Active Members
Commenting
Join the discussion
Exclusive Articles Coming Soon
Member-only articles
Weekly Newsletters
Weekly gaming & entertainment news
Member Badges
Earn badges as you go
Exclusive Competitions
Members-only prize draws
Curated Deals Coming Soon
Tech and gaming deals worth grabbing
GET COMMUNITY ACCESS QUICK
For the quickest way to join, simply enter your email below and get access. We will send a confirmation and sign you up to our newsletter to keep you updated on all your gaming news.
By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
FIND OUT ABOUT OUR MAGAZINE
Want to subscribe to the magazine? Click the button below to find out more information.
Find out more
GET Community ACCESS QUICK

Join the GamesRadar community for quick access. Enter your email below and we'll send confirmation, and sign you up to our newsletter.

By submitting your information, you confirm you are aged 16 or over, have read our Privacy Policy and agree to the Terms & Conditions. Geographical rules apply.

Background
Welcome to GamesRADAR+ Community !
Hi ,

Your membership journey starts here.

Keep exploring and earning more as a member.

MY ACCOUNT

Badge picture
Earn your first badge
Read 1 article to unlock your first badge.
Keep earning badges
Explore ways to get more involved as a member.
Latest Games News

Latest Games News

Breaking gaming news and updates

Read Now
Latest Games Reviews

Latest Games Reviews

Expert verdicts on the newest releases

Read Now

See what you’ve unlocked.

Explore your membership benefits.

Explore
Member Exclusives

Stay Ahead with GamesRadar+

Get the biggest gaming news, reviews, and releases straight to your inbox.

Explore

Sign Out
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+
US EditionUS CA EditionCanada UK EditionUK AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
  • Home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • Big in 2026
      • Big Preview
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Buying Guides
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Video
    • View Video
    • Video
    • GR+ Replay - Submit Your Clips
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Best Netflix Shows
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox


By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

You are now subscribed

Your newsletter sign-up was successful


Join the club

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.


An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies
  3. Action Movies

James Gunn reveals the hidden meaning behind Drax's tattoos in Guardians of the Galaxy

News
By Jack Shepherd
Published 9 July 2020

A cut Guardians of the Galaxy scene would have revealed all

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Marvel)
  • Facebook
  • X
  • Pinterest
  • Flipboard
  • Email
Share this article
Join the conversation
Follow us
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Subscribe to our newsletter

James Gunn has recently revealed a few things that were cut from the first Guardians of the Galaxy. First, there was a brief scene that would have extended a joke made by Quill about how he comes from a planet filled with the universe's mightiest outlaws – Billy the Kid and Bonnie & Clyde. 

Now the director has revealed another segment that didn't quite make the final cut. Writing on Instagram, Gunn addressed how the tattoos took hours of make-up work to apply to Dave Bautista. In short, applying the make-up for the first movie took longer than in Vol. 2, as the team started using a form-fitting "shirt" for the second movie that featured all the tattoos on it. This even helped in post-production, where the visual artists didn't have to help change the tattoos on Drax that had faded due to Bautista's own sweat. 

"Another fun fact," Gunn writes. "A cool scene I cut from the first film shows that Drax’s tattoos are not about his conquests, but about the memories he has with his family: his mother and father in his childhood, his marriage to his wife, his daughter being born. These things are all in the specific design of the tattoos/scarification."

Latest Videos From
Watch full video here:

I posted this fact on my story and got hundreds of people asking me how? The application team was mostly the same@on both films, so it wasn’t that. The company that did the work on Vol 2, Legacy, created a sort of Drax “shirt” for his arms and upper body. In addition to being quicker it was much better - although the aesthetic design was cool from the beginning, the separate pieces in the first film would swell with Dave’s sweat and start to crinkle so that his whole body looked like a Sharpei. This required a lot of CG help and cleanup we didn’t need in Vol 2. In the second film the shirt is so incredibly thin and form fitting we actually see way more of Dave’s body and muscles. Another fun fact: a cool scene I cut from the first film shows that Drax’s tattoos are not about his conquests, but about the memories he has with his family: his mother and father in his childhood, his marriage to his wife, his daughter being born. These things are all in the specific design of the tattoos/scarification. #gotg #marvel #guardiansofthegalaxy James Gunn

A photo posted by @jamesgunn on Jul 5, 2020 at 10:20am PDT

It's certainly would have been interesting to see the origins of Drax's tattoos, and the sequence doesn't sound anywhere near as laborious as some other tattoo origin stories (looking at you, Lost). Meanwhile, Gunn is hard working on The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, part of Marvel Phase 4. 

  • How to watch the Marvel movies in order 
  • Our full MCU recap 
  • The MCU timeline explained
Sign up for the Total Film Newsletter

Bringing all the latest movie news, features, and reviews to your inbox

By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.
Jack Shepherd
Jack Shepherd
Social Links Navigation
Freelance Journalist

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.

Read more
Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El in Supergirl
DC Movies James Gunn "debated" key Supergirl scenes in the editing room with the DC movie's director
 
 
Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El in Supergirl
DC Movies James Gunn gave the Supergirl director "guidelines" on one character and told him to change a scene
 
 
Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt in Peacemaker season 2
DC Movies Jennifer Holland reveals why DC boss James Gunn casts so many friends in his movies
 
 
Milly Alcock as Supergirl and David Corenswet as Superman in Supergirl (2026)
DC Movies Supergirl writer says James Gunn was "protective" over Superman's dialogue in the new DCU movie
 
 
Milly Alcock as Supergirl in a behind the scenes featurette
DC Movies Supergirl test screenings reportedly featured several scenes removed from the final cut, but more Superman was added
 
 
James Gunn
DC Movies James Gunn plans to rewatch The Suicide Squad and Blue Beetle to decide what is DCU canon
 
 
Latest in Action Movies
Matt Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena in The Odyssey
Action Movies Christopher Nolan says he's not bothered by "irrelevant" backlash to The Odyssey because he "spent 10 years" on Batman
 
 
Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day
Marvel Movies Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer sees Spidey fight Savage Hulk and teases possible villain return
 
 
JK Simmons as J Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: Far From Home
Marvel Movies Despite being in 2 MCU Spider-Man films, JK Simmons has never met Tom Holland
 
 
Batgirl movie
DC Movies 4 years after it was shelved, Batgirl star J.K. Simmons wants to know why it was never released
 
 
Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier in Avengers: Doomsday
Marvel Movies Despite rumor that Patrick Stewart will retire after Avengers: Doomsday, he says he'll "always and forever be an actor"
 
 
Godzilla rising from the ocean in Godzilla Minus Zero
Action Movies Epic new Godzilla Minus Zero trailer sees mankind resort to extreme measures to win against the kaiju
 
 
Latest in News
Palworld 1.0 leader
Survival Games Palworld 1.0 redesigns multiple Pals and makes them look less like Pokemon
 
 
Matt Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena in The Odyssey
Action Movies Christopher Nolan says he's not bothered by "irrelevant" backlash to The Odyssey because he "spent 10 years" on Batman
 
 
Monster fantasy screenshot showing an armored character
Monster Hunter Game that looks a lot like Monster Hunter addresses claims that it looks a lot like Monster Hunter
 
 
BlazBlue Entropy Effect X
Games Publisher protests Sony's digital-only future with pledge to do as many PS5 discs as possible
 
 
Super Pocket Capcom Edition on woodgrain desk surrounded by Evercade cartirdges.
Retro Blaze's affordable Super Pocket handheld has been hit with a price hike due to AI component demand
 
 
Persona 4 Revival
Persona New look at Persona 4 Revival's stylish menu UI confirms a complete transformation for the OG JRPG
 
 
LATEST ARTICLES
  1. Matt Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena in The Odyssey
    1
    Christopher Nolan says he's not bothered by "irrelevant" backlash to The Odyssey because he "spent 10 years" dealing with Batman
  2. 2
    Summary: what's happening at Xbox?
  3. 3
    Game that looks a lot like Monster Hunter addresses claims that it looks a lot like Monster Hunter
  4. 4
    Blaze's affordable Super Pocket handheld has been hit with a price hike due to AI component demand, despite absorbing "rising costs across manufacturing, components, and freight for as long as possible"
  5. 5
    Final Fantasy 6 is halfway to a remake in this Final Fantasy Tactics mod that took 3 years of work, and it's beautiful

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google
  • Terms and conditions
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Accessibility statement
  • Careers
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...