Spoilers: Why James Gunn almost didn’t return to direct Guardians Vol. 3

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

There will be major spoilers for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, so keep that in mind as we move forward. Despite the massive success of the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY franchise, director James Gunn didn't immediately agree to a third installment. Gunn said that he "needed to know it was, in my heart, what I truly felt called to do. There is a history in Hollywood of haphazard endings to trilogies, and I didn’t want to become a part of that dishonorable tradition of pretending the third one doesn’t exist." In the end, James Gunn announced that he would return to write and direct GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, but during the course of a Facebook Live Q&A, Gunn revealed why he almost didn't come back. Remember, spoilers.

During the finale of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, Yondu (Michael Rooker) scarified himself in order to save the life of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Although James Gunn called it "the hardest choice I've ever had to make from a storytelling perspective," he soon realized that Yondu needed to die if he was going tell the story honestly. However, that choice almost led to James Gunn turning down GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 as he couldn't see making the film without his close friend and frequent collaborator.

Michael Rooker, for all the crap I give him, is one of my closest friends in the world and the last thing I wanted to do was to make a movie without Michael Rooker in the future. I almost didn’t do Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because there was no Michael Rooker in it and I couldn’t see making the movie without him. He means that much to me and I love him that much.

Despite death not always being a permanent condition in comic-book movies, James Gunn confirmed that Yondu is definitely dead and won't be coming back as long as he's involved with Marvel, although Gunn wouldn't rule out a flashblack sequence or a prequel.

Yondu is dead. I think it's very important that in these movies, there are stakes within the films. I am not into this old school way of doing things, where you kill characters and you bring them back and then you kill them again and then you bring them back and their deaths mean nothing. Yondu is dead. It's sad. There could be a prequel Yondu film or a flashback or something like that. Yondu could exist in the past, but he's not going to come back to life, so long as I am involved with Marvel. It's just not going to happen.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 is currently playing in theaters, so check out reviews from our own Eric Walkuski and Chris Bumbray and make sure to let us know what YOU thought of the film!