Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is all about Star-Lord finally meeting his father, Ego the Living Planet. However, by the time the credits roll and Yondu has sacrificed himself in a scene sure to bring a tear to your eye, it's clear that Peter Quill only had one real "daddy." Now, in a new interview with Uproxx, both James Gunn and Michael Rooker have weighed in on the character's emotional story arc here.
"I didn’t want that to be the ending, and I kind of refused to put that in as the ending for a long time," Gunn admitted when asked about his decision to have Yondu die as a hero. "It wasn’t how the movie ended. But, at the end of the day, I knew that’s where it needed to go. I knew that we need to have real stakes in these movies. We need to lose characters. And not everyone who sees Marvel movies loves that. They don’t love losing characters. But for the characters to really make a difference, to really make their lives mean something, you needs to have these kinds of losses."
Rooker went on to say that his biggest concern about the character dying is the potential blowback from hardcore comic book fans, but he soon came around to Gunn's way of thinking. "What are we going to do? You know? But it worked so well for this story in this movie. That’s what really worked. And, yeah, what are you going to do? And it’s for the good of the movie. The hero of the movie ends up being remembered,” says Rooker. “And the hero of the movie ends up being, well – you’re the hero of the movie! You know, they’ve done something! They’ve given up something that most of us would not even come close to having the balls to give up in real life, and in the movies as well."
Gunn reiterated that by pointing out the importance of Yondu's sacrifice. "The whole movie led to that one moment. It seemed to be calling to me. And that’s what fulfills this true story. This is a story about a father’s love for his son, his ultimate love, so much love that he sacrifices himself for that, and that’s what Yondu is. He is 100 percent Peter Quill’s father. And Ego is 100 percent not his father. Just because Ego is biologically his father, that isn’t who he is." What did you think of this moment?
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