The upcoming GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 will see Nebula (Karen Gillan) taking on a larger role as a (sort of) member of the Guardians as well as diving more deeply into the relationship with her sister, Gamora (Zoe Saldana). However, Nebula's story was almost cut short in the first GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movie. Karen Gillan spoke with ScreenCrush recently and revealed that there "was a point where Nebula actually died in the first movie."
James Gunn never got around to actually shooting Nebula's death scene as Gillan says that "as soon as we would get near to it there would be a new script" which kept the character alive. The actress added a few more details while speaking with Digital Spy when she was asked if she had foreseen what Nebula's arc would bring.
No, I did not actually. I definitely had a feeling that there was room for the character to expand in the future, but she was originally supposed to die in the first movie, I think I remember in the script. She obviously did not die, then I found out that she was coming back in the second movie and then I found out we got to explore all these amazing things about her past and her relationship with Gamora, her sister, so I was really happy.
After GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2, Karen Gillan will be making an appearance as Nebula in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. Who knows where her character will end up following those two films, if she even survives them, but Gillan has been keeping her fingers crossed for a GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY spinoff which would follow both Nebula and Gamora.
I'm waiting for this [spin-off] because obviously this needs to happen. I don't know if it's ever going to happen, but I would love it. I think it would be amazing to see a female-driven film like that. We have Captain Marvel coming up, which is quite exciting. We could do with some more females at the forefront.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 will hit theaters on May 5, 2017, so make sure to check out a review from our own Eric Walkuski.