Drax Watch Order: Every MCU Appearance
To watch Drax in order, start with Guardians of the Galaxy and follow the 7 titles below in story order, ending (for now) with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Drax the Destroyer is the Guardians’ most literal-minded warrior.
The releases run from 2014 to 2023. That works out to 6 films and 1 special or short, about 15 hours of viewing in all.
Who is Drax?
Jim Starlin created Drax the Destroyer with writer Mike Friedrich, and the character first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man #55 in February 1973. The original Drax was Arthur Douglas, a human whose family was killed by Thanos. Kronos and Mentor placed his spirit into a powerful new body built for one purpose: killing Thanos. His daughter Heather survived and grew up to become Moondragon. Drax spent decades as a cosmic heavy in the Infinity Watch, the Annihilation books and the Guardians of the Galaxy. After one resurrection Starlin rewrote him with far less intellect, modeled partly on the Hulk.
Dave Bautista plays Drax, starting with Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, where the rest of the team meets him inside the Kyln prison. The biggest change from the comics is the origin. There is no Arthur Douglas and no human life on Earth. This Drax is an alien whose wife and daughter were killed by Ronan the Accuser, and his hunt for Ronan is what drags him into the group in the first place. Across seven MCU appearances he moves from a man who only wants to kill someone to the one who makes the team feel like a family.
Drax carried most of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in 2022, traveling to Earth with Mantis to kidnap Kevin Bacon as a Christmas present for Quill. His last appearance was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2023. Bautista is not in the announced Avengers: Doomsday cast, so no return is confirmed.
Spoiler Spoilers for Drax’s story: tap to reveal
- Vol. 3 ends with Drax staying on Knowhere with Nebula to help raise the children rescued from the High Evolutionary, about as far from the Destroyer as the character has ever landed.
Drax in story order
- 1
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- 2
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- 3
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- 4
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- 5
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- 6
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- 7
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Drax FAQ
Who plays Drax in the MCU?
Dave Bautista. He has played Drax in seven MCU projects, from Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014 through to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2023.
Why does Drax want to kill Ronan?
Ronan the Accuser killed Drax's wife and daughter. Avenging them is his entire reason for joining the others in the first Guardians film.
Is Drax in Avengers: Doomsday?
Not as far as anything confirmed goes. Dave Bautista isn't in the announced cast for Avengers: Doomsday, which opens on December 18, 2026.
What order should I watch Drax in?
Go top to bottom. For Drax, story order and release order are the same, so there’s nothing to rearrange. Start with Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and work forward.
How many titles feature Drax?
7 so far (6 films and 1 special or short), released from 2014 to 2023, covering Phases 2 to 5 of the MCU. That’s about 15 hours of viewing.
How long does it take to watch every Drax appearance?
About 15 hours for all 7 released titles. At two hours an evening, that’s roughly 8 sittings.
Do I need to watch the whole MCU to follow Drax?
No. These 7 titles tell the character’s own story, and the 2 team-up films on the list cover where it meets the wider MCU. Of these, 3 are graded Essential, so start with those if you’re short on time.