James Gunn is preparing to wrap up the trilogy of Marvel Studio's favorite superhero squad as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 gets ready for its theatrical release. However, ahead of this, the director has revealed that one of the Guardians' most popular characters, Gamora, was nearly killed off in the prior film, before Marvel executives talked him out of it.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, Gunn revealed that he had planned on killing off the iconic green warrior, played by Zoe Saldaña, who is also the adopted daughter of Marvel's main Phase Three villain, Thanos: "Gamora almost died in Vol. 2. I knew from the beginning Zoe only wanted to play the character for so many years, and she's been very honest saying that she's done [after this]. And so I was going to have her die. I thought she was the one that was going to sacrifice herself." However, Gunn said that he was eventually talked out of this decision by Marvel president Kevin Feige and co-president Louis D'Esposito. Gunn then revealed that he chose to kill off the character of Yondu (Michael Rooker) instead, but said he had reservations about that, too:
"It didn't feel right, it felt much more right to go where we go in that movie. That seemed what was correct for the story. I think at the time I was afraid of killing Michael Rooker because he's my friend. So I felt bad about killing Rooker and I didn't want to do that. But that was where the story naturally progressed to."
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=1.5)
Another reason Gunn chose to keep Gamora alive, he added, was because she is eventually killed in the film Avengers: Infinity War and then brought back to life in Avengers: Endgame as a character that has no memory of her work with the Guardians. Because of this, Gunn said he had to work with those film's directors, Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, saying, "They called me up and said, 'We're thinking about this, does this work? Can you work with this?' And I went, 'Got it, yeah. I really can.' And I think it works really well for the third movie."
Gunn is Cautious About Killing Off Major Characters
Gunn expanded on his process for killing off characters in a recent interview with Collider, saying that he thinks hard about how a character's death can best work itself into a story. He said that he feels it helps the audience get a sense of danger for every character in a film, even the major ones, adding:
"I don't think that killing characters is necessary. One of the things I've discovered over the years as I've killed characters in different movies, people know that I'm willing to do that. So, you know, I killed — I killed. Yondu died in Vol. 2. Original Groot died in Vol. 1. In Suicide Squad, I killed everybody practically. I killed a major character in Peacemaker. So people know I'm a guy who's willing to go there, and I think that the movies have to feel like that. Whether it's true or not, the movies have to feel like their lives are really at stake, and in most movies, I don't feel like that."
While most Hollywood blockbusters steer clear of killing off main characters, it seems that Gunn wants to make any demises as impactful as possible. It remains to be seen who, if anyone, will meet their end in Vol. 3, but audiences can find out when the film is released on May 5. Collider's recent interview with Gunn and the film's star, Chris Pratt, can be seen below: