James Gunn Laments An Over-Referenced Drax Scene In Avengers: Infinity War

In Anthony and Joe Russo's 2018 blockbuster "Avengers: Infinity War," Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana) share a romantic moment, knowing they are facing a series of difficult confrontations with the genocidal alien warlord Thanos (Josh Brolin). As Star-Lord and Gamora let out their emotions and tenderly kiss, they are interrupted by a crunching noise. Their friend Drax (Dave Bautista) is standing silently in the corner, very slowly snacking on a bag of zargnuts. Startled, Star-Lord asks Drax how long he had been there. Drax says he had been there for a full hour. He also explains that he had been practicing a new stealth technique that rendered him invisible, provided he stands perfectly still. 

Drax, of course, had not turned invisible, and had merely assumed he was because his friends failed to notice him. This is in character for Drax, who belongs to an alien species that has no concepts of metaphor, analogy, or anything beyond the directly literal. Bathos is the single most common form of humor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the "invisible Drax" scene is a prime example of it. "Infinity War" was credited to screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, but multiple other writers contributed, including James Gunn, the writer and director of 2014's "Guardians of the Galaxy," the movie from which Drax originally hailed. It seems that Gunn wrote the invisible Drax scene. 

He eventually came to lament writing it. The invisible Drax joke unwittingly opened a can of worms Gunn wasn't prepared for. Drax actor Dave Bautista, you'll recall, began his career as a professional wrestler, and his "I'm invisible" gag was a little too close to another wrestler's catchphrase. Gunn admitted on Twitter/X, back in 2022 that he was sick of invisible Dave jokes because they reminded him too much of invisible John Cena jokes. 

To explain: John Cena, another wrestler-turned-actor, was noted for mocking his wrestling foes by waving his hand in front of his face and portentously saying "You can't see me." His catchphrase was captured in .gif form, and many an online troublemaker has posted that .gif endlessly. Cena has said that the oddball taunt originated from an in-joke he had with his brother. It should be noted that John Cena has also worked with James Gunn on the supervillain film "The Suicide Squad" and its spin-off TV series "Peacemaker." (Gunn, it seems, has a penchant for wrestlers.)

As such, many modern audiences were able to look back to Dave Bautista's scene in "Infinity War" and make a whimsical connection between one "invisible" wrestler and another. Before too long, Gunn was being beset on all sides, mostly by fans and social media users, about the invisible Dave jokes, and he grew sick of the mightily quickly. On Twitter/X, he wrote: 

"Between the daily barrage of repetitive invisible jokes about John Cena in addition to the ones about Dave, I almost regret making the joke in the first place." 

So Gunn doesn't feel any guilt about the quality of the joke he wrote for "Infinity War," only the fact that it came to be overused and repeatedly mentioned. He grew sick of it the same way that a successful rock band might tire of playing one of their most famous hits. In 2021, prior to the release of Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," a fan joked on Twitter/X that the filmmaker needed to fast-track its production, as to finally lay the "invisible Dave" memes to rest. Gunn replied with "Most compelling argument I've heard yet for rushing the process." Gunn was done. 

As of this writing, Gunn hasn't written any additional gags about disappearing wrestlers. His next film, "Superman," is due in theaters on July 11, 2025.