Epic farewell for the galactic guardians

Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Nebula, Mantis and Groot, the most beloved family of misfits in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, say goodbye to their space adventures through the big door with a loaded third installment of emotion and humor that American director and screenwriter James Gunn, creator of the two previous films, from 2014 and 2017, has been able to work with a difficult balance.

Oliver Thansan
Oliver Thansan
30 April 2023 Sunday 01:56
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Epic farewell for the galactic guardians

Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Nebula, Mantis and Groot, the most beloved family of misfits in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, say goodbye to their space adventures through the big door with a loaded third installment of emotion and humor that American director and screenwriter James Gunn, creator of the two previous films, from 2014 and 2017, has been able to work with a difficult balance.

The press who went to the European presentation of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 at Disneyland Paris last weekend, where the protagonists of this fun saga walked figure in a surprise photocall surrounded by music, a spaceship and a final shot with fireworks in the Avengers Campus. A magnificent farewell that has brought Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff and Vin Diesel – the voice of Groot – for a world tour that includes destinations such as Seoul and Los Angeles. Neither Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, nor Bradley Cooper, who voices the charismatic Rocket, could join the meeting. And it is precisely the figure of the endearing raccoon and his origins in the form of flashbacks that centers the plot of this film, which will arrive in Spanish theaters on May 4.

Sean Gunn, James Gunn's brother, handles motion capture for Rocket and returns to the role of Kraglin with a new companion, Cosmo the dog, who has telekinetic powers. The parade of familiar faces is fueled by Sylvester Stallone, as Stakar Ogord, and Elizabeth Debicki, Will Poulter and Chukwudi Iwuji, as the evil Ayesha and Adam Warlock and the scientist known as the High Evolutionary.

The shooting of the film, as it could not be otherwise for the protagonists, was full of moving moments. "It was a very bittersweet feeling. On the one hand, we were happy to be playing our characters again, and we knew we were part of something big, because James Gunn had written a wonderful final script for all of us. But knowing that it would be the last time we would all be together made me sad. However, I feel enormous gratitude in my heart for what this journey has meant, which has lasted almost ten years", asserts Saldaña in an interview in Paris with this newspaper, transformed into a tougher Gamora who has forgotten the love that felt for Quill. "I tried to capture every moment of the shoot in my head to live it to the fullest. At seven we focus and support each other. I remember it as something very special, and I really had a lot of fun making this movie," says Pratt, who in the shoes of Quill suffers doubly both from Gamora's love rejection and from having to lead the mission to save his dear friend Rockett, whose complicated past we will witness in a story that will invite you to shed some tears.

Saldaña claims that he would never have thought that the first Guardians of the Galaxy would be so successful. "I wanted to participate because I believed in its message and I felt it was special. And you always hope that the audience feels the same”. Pratt was only concerned about "doing my character well, being fit and not getting fired at the first shift," he says with a broad smile. "The success of the film completely changed my career, my life and that of my immediate future", he adds. Despite the fact that the two actors are now saying goodbye to the galactic family, they do not close the possibility of returning in other Marvel superhero productions. “I'm totally open to it, but I'm not going to get into something just for the money. It has to be a story with meaning,” says Pratt. "You need to know how to say goodbye. I think James has managed to keep all the characters intact in an epic finale", concludes Saldaña.