Can you hear it? Hearts, around the world, collectively breaking — and it’s all because of James Gunn. That’s right, the creative mastermind behind the MCU’s strangest superhero team, and now DC Studios, looks to deliver an emotional finale to his technicolored space saga in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Gunn has revealed how the third Guardians film will be unlike anything Marvel fans have ever seen.
Of all the quirky, crazy characters in Gunn’s cinematic toy chest — it seems one Guardian in particular is getting much more focus in this third installment. He’s cranky, he’s fuzzy, he loves a good joke. He’s Rocket Raccoon. As the director explained to EW:
“One of the reasons why I came back to [make] this movie was because I felt like I needed to tell Rocket’s story. I would’ve been very sad not to complete the trilogy for many reasons, but I just feel very connected to Rocket. I feel like nobody would be able to tell his full story if it wasn’t me.”
If you remember, Gunn was briefly ousted from Marvel for some unflattering Tweets that came to light back in 2018. However, who could stay mad at James Gunn? He’s one of the most prolific filmmakers currently working in Hollywood. Frankly, the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise doesn’t exist without James Gunn, and his sincerity surrounding his firing helped him get his job back and secure a spot in superhero history.
He continued to tell EW:
“To me, Rocket has always been the secret protagonist of the Guardians movies. From the beginning, it has been rooted in who he is as a character. I think he exemplifies a lot of the traits of all the Guardians. They’ve had all these traumas, and it brings them together. I just think that his is more extreme than others.”
All that’s left is an insufferable waiting game, slowly crawling closer to the movie’s release this coming May 6. Until then, we’ll be listening to a whole lot of ’70s music and pondering that ultimate question; out of all the possible time periods and cosmic realities, how did we get lucky enough to experience the Guardians of the Galaxy films firsthand? The world, or galaxy, may never know.