The long-awaited ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ is the latest hit from Marvel with more than 700 million dollars raised at the box office around the world, giving the feeling that it has recovered part of the illusion that had been diluted or lost by the MCU. The return of the heroes of James Gunn forces us to recover what happened in previous deliveries and one of the most important moments is the end from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’.
The screenwriter and director, an author who began working on cheap horror and humor productions before conquering Hollywood with his beloved Guardians of the Galaxy, has referred to the bittersweet outcome from the second film, where the protagonists are victorious but must say goodbye to one of their own: Yondu (Michael Rooker).
James Gunn admits that he did not like to end the story like this (he wrote the script himself) but he tells why he changed his mind and I think his explanation makes sense:
“I didn’t want that to be the end, and I kind of refused to put that as a denouement for a long time. It wasn’t how the movie ended. But despite everything, I knew that’s where I needed to go. I knew that we needed to take real risks in “These movies. We need to lose characters. And not everyone who watches Marvel movies wants that. They don’t love to lose characters. But for characters to really stand out, for their lives to really make sense, you need to have these kinds of losses.”
“Michael Rooker is, despite all the crap I throw at him all the time, one of the best friends I have in the world. I can’t imagine making a movie without him.”
Kevin Feige, James Gunn and Michael Rooker
“The whole movie leads to this moment. It seemed like it was calling me. And that’s what fills this story with truth. It’s a story about a father’s love for his son, his ultimate love, so much love that he sacrifices himself for him, and that’s what Yondu is. He’s 100% Peter Quill’s father. And Ego isn’t 100% his father. Just because Ego is biologically his father, doesn’t mean he’s really his father.”
In fact, James Gunn has subsequently acknowledged that his initial idea was to sacrifice Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) but Marvel convinced him otherwise and that’s when he ended up opting for Yondu. So when the Russo brothers approached him with the option of Gamora’s death in Avengers: Infinity War, he didn’t really alter their plans for the saga and was able to write the story he wanted to tell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3′.
What do you think of the end of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’? Did it convince you or do you regret that Yondu was the sacrificed character? I personally think it was a great ending to the movie, I needed that death, that dramatic moment, as much as I’m going to miss the extraordinary Michael Rooker.
And the funeral that follows is very moving, with an appearance by Sylvester Stallone. On the other hand, I’m glad that Marvel accepts the goodbye of important characters, it is boring and somewhat absurd that everyone ends up alive after these dangerous adventures where they are always on the verge of death.
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