The Guardians writer-director opens up about tapping into the Christmas spirit, his plans for Vol.
Writer-directorJames Gunnhas been, well, the guardian of theGuardianssince the beginning.
Next year, he’ll cap off hisMarveltrilogy withGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, and James Gunn on the set of the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’.Jessica Miglio/Marvel Studios
3,a bittersweet finale that he hopes will be both satisfying and emotionally devastating.
But what made you want tocast him as himself in this special?
JAMES GUNN:I just wanted an excuse to work with my buddy Kevin again.
Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista' in the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’.Jessica Miglio/Marvel Studios
Really, I just like working with him.
But I thought it was hilarious.
Yeah, if you cast somebody else to play Kevin Bacon, it could be very hit or miss.
I did not think that, like, Ricky Schroder would play a great Kevin Bacon.
I love the dynamic between Drax and Mantis because they’re both such weirdos.
What do you love about pairing the two of them?
I think of them as Costello and Costello.
[Laughs] They’re so anarchic.
They’re like following an unattended fire hose around.
She’s so frustrated with him, and he is so frustrating.
But he’s also willing to apologize, sometimes for times where he did nothing wrong.
What kind of conversations did you have with the department heads?
It was a lot of Christmas stuff.
We were very fortunate because we shot the special at the same time we shot [Vol.
3], so we were going back and forth.
We were using really big sets.
It’s the greatest set I’ve ever been on in my life.
But at the same time, we put a lot of money into lights.
Somewhere you could read how many lights there were, but there are tens of thousands of lights up.
It was incredibly cool looking, and it made you feel so Christmas-y.
[Laughs]
What was that like to press pause on filmingVol.
3and switch gears to go film the holiday special?
It was great because the shooting schedules were totally intermingled.Vol.
3has a lot of the fun and the goofy stuff ofGuardians, but it’s also incredibly emotional.
It was very serious a lot of the time.
The actors were all pushing themselves a lot, especiallyChris Pratt.
I really would look forward to those holiday special days on my schedule.
It’s like, “Oh, it’s a holiday special day today.
Let’s party.”
No spoilers, but you’ve got a pretty great Christmas soundtrack to go with the special.
The Old 97’s also perform.
Do you have a favorite underrated Christmas song?
They’re all greats.
Probably the most well-known one isthe Waitresses tune.
It’s one of the few times of the year that I actually relax.
I don’t work for a few days, which is very unusual for me.
What’s been the most rewarding part of having him on set?
You see how Nebula has taken on a leadership role.
You see how Mantis is more willing to speak up for herself.
And you see how Kraglin has taken on this completely different role.
He’s one of the Guardians, and he’s part of that family now.
He’s a major part of the support system.
So just being with my brother and being able to bring that character to life has been great.
But also, I’ve got to admit that my brother’s just the best actor in the world.
Man, it’s nice.
It was really just like watching TV on those days.
You’ve said for a long time thatVol.
It’s very rare that the third movie in a franchise is good.
So, it was important to me that we really ended this story in a good way.
3is going back to the beginning so that we can really see the end.
We see the importance of Rocket’s character and who he is.
So, I put my all into it.
It was really hard.
This Christmas special was the easiest thing of all time.
The movie was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I’m starting to feel pretty good because I’m starting to see it come together.
I’m starting to see how people react to it, and I’m seeing what works.
What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from makingGuardians?
He was utterly alone.
It all started with that.
I said, “In this movie, she’s a bad guy.
Everything we planned for Nebula is there.
And honestly, being very frank with you, she’s one of people’s favorite characters inVol.
3.She’s so good in that movie, and it’s because she’s developed and changed.
She hasn’t stayed the same.
So I think that’s really the thing: allowing the characters to change.
