There was a moment during theGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
3premiere whereChris Prattleaned over and nudged his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger.
“We go off in different directions at the end.
Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Groot (Vin Diesel) in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.’ (Director James Gunn jokes that he and his crew referred to this version of Groot as ‘Swole Groot.').Marvel Studios
I remember everyone gearing up before they said ‘action.’
But all of them remember feeling the reverence of that final moment together.
Tears were shed; speeches were given.
‘When we were on set, it felt like we were making an indie comedy with a big group of friends,’ says Will Poulter (Adam Warlock in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’).Marvel Studios
“We, the Guardians, sat in a circle,” Klementieff, 36, adds.
“It felt emotional and deep and beautiful at the same time.”
It was particularly poignant forJames Gunn, the writer-director who’s helmed all threeGuardiansmovies.
Nebula (Karen Gillan) shows off a new bionic arm in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’.Jessica Miglio/Marvel Studios
But Gunn’s cast rallied behind him, lobbying both publicly and privately for his reinstatement.
“In a weird way, the Guardians felt more real than ever.
Literally, we had Chris Pratt leading the charge.
Meet Blurp, a fuzzy alien creature from ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.Marvel Studios
It was like, Star-Lord is real!”
“That was really moving.
Zoe’s speech really got to me.”
The director pauses, remembering.
Then: “Chris’ speech was just okay,” he deadpans.
In 2023, it’s easy to think of aGuardians of the Galaxymovie as a safe bet.
Even among comic book obsessives, the cosmic Guardians were way down on the D-list.
“It makes sense.
They were like, ‘Really?
The Guardians of the Galaxy?
There’s really no other Marvel comic book characters we can make a movie about?
Can’t we do Captain America or Hulk or Iron Man again?'”
Even Gunn was skeptical.
He first met with Marvel in 2012, after directing oddball genre fare like 2006’sSlitherand 2010’sSuper.
Gunn found himself fixating on the tiny furry mammal.
In the end, it was Rocket’s isolation that helped Gunn understand the Guardians as a whole.
“I’ll always feel gratitude towards the character because of that,” he explains.
“But I also relate to him.
He’s just an angry little guy who pushes everyone away because of his own fear and vulnerabilities.
I think I felt like that a lot.
I think a lot of people have felt like that.”
He’d actually mapped out Rocket’s origins years ago, long before filming began onVol.
“It’s almost like the first two movies are just an excuse so that I could tellVol.
“You find you’re doing a lot of exposition, a lot of setting up and explaining stuff.
So, a big challenge was doing that and making it sound interesting.
2.He also boasts sparkling gold skin.
The 30-year-old Poulter remembers showing up to his screen test and immediately being slathered in metallic paint.
“I shouldn’t have been even thinking about that.
I should have been thinking about the lines that I had to learn.
But I was thinking, ‘Oh, this is quite cool.
I’m in gold Nikes.'”
Playing a four-legged character took some adjusting.
“I was like, okay, I feel weird,” Bakalova recalls with a laugh.
“But it’s cool.
“I felt a bit more open-minded and able to use my imagination,” Bakalova adds.
“It’s like when I was a child and would just play.”
That sense of play was felt almost every day on set.
Iwuji remembers one such moment walking into the High Evolutionary’s regal throne room for the first time.
“I remember pretending I was a DJ looking down.
It just got everyone in a good mood.”
Still, all that play included plenty of work.Vol.
3features one particular action showstopper, a lengthy and elaborate tracking shot that required months of rehearsal and pre-planning.
“I don’t think it would make this whole experience worth doing.
They’re also fiercely protective of their director, praising his collaborative spirit and obsessive attention to detail.
“There’s this really beautiful moment [inVol.
He’s lifted some techniques for action from some Korean filmmakers.
He’s really a student of film and comic books.
He’s watched everything, and he’s read everything.
It’s really his world, and that’s what makes him extra special.
He’s the real deal.”
It would’ve felt so weird to do it without him.”
(TheFireflyalum lent his voice to the originalGuardians,and he also had a cut cameo inVol.
“But [Gunn] makes me care about them so much.
He makes me cry about them.”
For the younger Gunn, watching his older brother direct aliens and space battles feels like a full-circle moment.
This is what he was absolutely cut out to do.”
AsGuardians of the Galaxy Vol.
3cruises toward theaters, there’s a certain amount of pressure on this final installment.
(One of the first projects on the slate?
ASuperman reboot, written and directed by you guessed it Gunn.)
As for the Guardians themselves?
Fans will have to wait and see what their futures might hold whenVol.
Some of them have already started pestering Gunn for roles in his future DC endeavors.
He’s going to confirm that I’m taken care of and safe.”
In other words, bring on the gun-toting raccoons and talking trees the weirder the better.
It’s going to be with my phone.
Your father is a banana, and your mother is a box of matches.
Let’s shoot it.’
Okay, yeah, sure!”
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