The end of the line is here for Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and company as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives. It's set to be an emotional final ride as it sees Quill coming to terms with himself and rallying this iteration of the Guardians one final time all while delving into the dark backstory of Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper). As this will be James Gunn's final MCU outing, there's been plenty of speculation that the Guardians won't make it out of this installment unscathed. Neither previous entry rolled credits without a major character dying - the original Groot (Vin Diesel) touchingly protected his friends in Vol. 1 and Yondu (Michael Rooker) sacrificed himself for Quill in Vol. 2 - but as was the case with those deaths, it won't be for nothing.
During an interview with Collider's Perri Nemiroff, Gunn explained his philosophy regarding character deaths and how he thinks they're best utilized within a story. For one, it's about creating a real sense of danger for characters that fans love so much. It ultimately helps make everyone feel more human and vulnerable when they can just as easily find themselves at death's door. It's also why fans entered Vol. 3 speculating who among the director's space-faring heroes could die next. Gunn walked through his history of killing the occasional major character from Guardians to Peacemaker to show how he's cultivated that feeling of mortality for these superheroes:
"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. [Laughs] 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."
Crowd-pleasing blockbusters aren't too eager to kill major characters or set those stakes. The MCU hasn't been afraid of death in its long history, even if it has struggled with committing to it recently, but as Gunn points out, there's a general lack of making dangerous situations feel that dangerous to our on-screen heroes. "In some cases, I don't think we really think that Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible is gonna die, you know?" He added, "But for the most part, you need to feel that sense of stakes, and I think that's what's important more so than actually killing someone."
Gunn Wants Character Deaths to Make Sense in the Moment
Character deaths aren't just about establishing stakes for the heroes, of course. They have to make sense both for the character themselves, the surrounding characters, and the point in the story. Yondu's sacrifice, as heartbreaking as it was, sent a powerful message to Quill as the Ravager expressed his undying love for his adoptive son the only way he knew how at the moment. It represented a moment of growth for both characters even if it was something Gunn wasn't eager to do considering how much he, too, loved Yondu and Rooker. Deaths like that are Gunn's blueprint for success. Should he kill off Rocket Raccoon in his big sendoff or another Guardian altogether, he wants to ensure it'll have the same impact:
"It's all a function of story, and if someone dies, it shouldn't be — I try not to have people that die and are just there to service another character. It has to work as a part of the story and isn't just — well, I mean, that's not true in the case of the guys from the beginning of The Suicide Squad. That was just kind of killing them because it's funny, but when in the real story, like I would never have killed Yondu just to kill Yondu. It had to be intimately involved with the story, and I didn't want to kill Yondu. Michael Rooker is one of my very close friends, and I had him surviving in my first draft because I want to work with Rooker again and I wanted to put him in the next movie, and it just came to me that this is what this is about. You know, Peter Quill has to lose this character in his life and Yondu has to sacrifice his life. He has to come through. This is his redemption, and he can only do that by sacrificing his life, so I knew it was the right ending for the story, and I'm always in service to that."
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 rides into theaters on May 5. Check out the trailer below: