Dave Bautista’s Drax is undoubtedly one of the funniest characters in the entire MCU. Many of his lines have generated laughter in the audience, but this particular line has gone on to become a trending meme. Drax’s first meeting with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man in Avengers: Infinity War was hilarious, but it is even more interesting to know that Bautista ad-libbed the line.
The original script had only dialogues between Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill and Tony Stark. However, Bautista couldn’t resist but join the conversation. Bautista felt like it was very characteristic of Drax, and the improvisation just worked well in creating humor.
Dave Bautista’s Iconic Line in Avengers: Infinity War Was Improvised
During the scene, the Guardians team gets into a brawl with Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange, thinking that they work alongside Thanos. Peter Quill and his team are looking for Gamora, who was taken away by Thanos. Chris Pratt’s Quill holds Spider-Man hostage, whereas Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man takes down Drax and holds a weapon on him. When they start the tense negotiations, Quill asks Stark, “Where is Gamora?”.
Stark, visibly confused, retorts in his usual sarcastic tone, “I’ll do you even better: Who is Gamora?”. It’s at this point that Drax delivers the bewildering yet funny line, “I’ll do you one better: Why is Gamora?”. According to the screenwriters of Avengers: Infinity War (and Endgame), Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Dave Bautista ad-libbed this line during filming. Markus told Yahoo:
“The script only said, ‘Where is Gamora?’ ‘I’ll do you even better: Who is Gamora?’ And then one day Bautista just goes, ‘I’ll do you one better: Why is Gamora?’ It’s like, ‘OK, you’re very good at your job.’”
The dimwitted warrior’s lines are especially funny because of the sincerity with which Drax says them. Many fans would have loved to see a Drax spin-off film, which was under consideration at one point with James Gunn rooting for it, but Marvel chose not to pursue it.
Not Only The Funniest Line, The Saddest Line In The Movie Was Also Improvised
Besides Dave Bautista’s improvisation, another improvised line in Avengers: Infinity War brought tears to the audience’s eyes. This time, Tom Holland, who played Spider-Man, ad-libbed a line that would later become iconic. During a Q&A session at an event held at the University of Iowa, director Joe Russo confirmed that Tom Holland had improvised the line when his character disintegrated during the blip. (via Reddit)
The Russo brothers had asked the Spider-Man actor to act as though he didn’t want to go, and Holland turned this directive into an emotional dialogue, “I don’t want to go.” Both Bautista and Holland contributed to the impact that Avengers: Infinity War made on the audience. The film grossed $2.052 billion worldwide and became the sixth highest-grossing film of all time.
Avengers: Infinity War and other MCU films are now available for streaming on Disney+.
