James Gunn Reveals Characters He Is Not Allowed To Use In 'GotG Vol. 3'
The Guardians of the Galaxy occupy a unique space within the MCU. The ragtag group of self-described outcasts scraped by throughout the galaxy prior to Endgame, taking the odd job and opportunistically seeking any cash they could get. Walking the gray line between good and evil, the Guardians fall more on the chaotic, self-serving side of things, as opposed to truly evil such as Thanos or Ultron or purely, altruistically, good like Steve Rodgers. With Thor Odinson, former ruler of Asgard, falling into their crew post-Infinity Saga, the creative and story-telling possibilities are nearly endless for the Guardians.
With their evolving cast of characters, their borderline "outlaw" way of life, visually stunning color palette, and groovy soundtrack, the Guardians took many audience members by surprise when they arrived in the MCU. A lesser known superhero team within the comics, the Guardians quickly made a name for themselves with their unique style. This popularity generated plans to turn their solo debut film into a trilogy and earned the Guardians a recently announced holiday special. While the second film in the Guardians franchise got lost in the weeds a bit (at least in this author's opinion), expectations are high for the third chapter. With buzz being generated online about all things Marvel, especially in light of the recent MCU successes of Hawkeye and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Guardians director and writer, James Gunn, has taken to Twitter to discuss plans for his upcoming third Guardians film.
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As with seemingly everything these days, the world of superheroes and intellectual property is wrapped in miles of red tape. While our favorite heroes fearlessly charge into battle against all manner of beasties and baddies, they quake in fear at the thought of a battle between studios over their character rights. This is nothing new to the MCU, with Spider-Man and many affiliated characters still heavily tied to Sony and the phrase "mutant" only recently allowed to be uttered around Marvel properties with the acquisition of Fox Studios.
Of course, this extends to the Guardians of the Galaxy as well, with two more obscure characters being off limits to Gunn due to "rights issues". Twitter users reached out to the writer and director to request the inclusion of ROM the Spaceknight and Bug in the third Guardians of the Galaxy film. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this holiday wish will be answered anytime soon comic book fans. Check out James Gunn's response below:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a knack for giving smaller characters a breath of fresh air and allowing them to have their moment in the spotlight. Whether it's a quick-witted quip that leaves the audience laughing, or a badass action moment that leaves them saying "wow", nearly every Marvel character has their time to shine. Gunn has excelled at taking lesser known comic characters, adapting and improving them to the point that they are able stand on their own, and setting them loose within the MCU.
Look no further than the Guardians themselves for a case study on this ability. Few movie-goers could have told you about Rocket Racoon or Groot prior to the first Guardians movie in 2014, but these two have rapidly grown into fan-favorite characters. While it would have been interesting to see how ROM and Bug would have acclimated to the MCU, there are undoubtedly more great characters on the horizon, both comic book adaptations and originals, including "one of the greatest MCU characters of all time" being introduced in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
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Source(s): Screen Rant, Twitter
