James Gunn Talks Infinity War and Killing Gamora

Movies

James Gunn is possessive of his Guardians. A recent article in The Hollywood Reporter discusses Gunn’s tumultuous relationship with Marvel and Disney, and amid blaming cancel culture on conservatives and suggesting leftists need to watch what they say (it’s hard out there for a pimp), THR reveals that Gunn disagreed with a couple of choices made in Avengers: Infinity War regarding the Guardians of the Galaxy, specifically Peter Quill. While there are no direct quotes, the article says that Gunn believes Peter would have shot Gamora without hesitation when Thanos had her in his grasp; he also doesn’t think Peter would have punched Thanos and ruined the heroes’ impending victory over the Mad Titan. Gunn also reveals that Chris Pratt and Pom Klementieff, who play Peter Quill and Mantis, called him from the set of Infinity War to see if he agreed with the way their characters were being portrayed. THR also says that Gunn originally planned to kill off Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and that Saldaña only expected to be in the first film, though it doesn’t elaborate on why.

I’m certainly glad Gunn didn’t kill off Gamora so early. She’s my second favorite of the Guardians, after Peter, and she brings a lot to the dynamic. Her and Peter’s burgeoning romance is a big part of what drives the series, as well as the Guardians’ actions in Infinity War and Endgame. Her eventual death in Infinity War was impactful in what it meant for her and for Peter, as well as Thanos, and her kinda-sorta return in Endgame and the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will surely add new layers to the character. As for Gunn’s comments on Infinity War, I disagree about Peter shooting Gamora. It made sense to me that he hesitated; he loves Gamora, and she’d just begun to reciprocate his feelings. He’d also just lost his surrogate father after helping to kill his biological father, and this all follows the traumatic loss of his mother. Of course he would hesitate to kill Gamora. He ultimately follows her wishes, or tries to, but his reluctance feels right. I do understand disagreeing with his punching Thanos, though. It kind of makes sense because Peter can be impetuous when his emotions are toyed with, like when he was eager to believe Ego loved him; to that end, he had just learned that Thanos had killed Gamora. But he was also shown to have grown more level-headed between the first and second Guardians of the Galaxy movies, particularly when it comes to battle strategy. Peter not only screws up Thanos’ defeat, but he does so while everyone around him is telling him how big a mistake he’s about to make. It can go either way, but it does feel a bit like one of those “This has to happen for the rest of the movie to happen” moments.

If I were Gunn, Thor: Love and Thunder would piss me off a lot more, if only because the Guardians were involved in that disaster.