Despite being considered the lead for two movies, James Gunn reveals the real Guardians of the Galaxy protagonist isn’t Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord. The next chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise will be Gunn’s final time directing the cosmic superhero team, giving them an emotional final adventure as they find themselves pitted against the likes of both The High Evolutionary, played by Peacemaker star Chukwudi Iwuji, and Adam Warlock, portrayed by Midsommar‘s Will Poulter. Also known by his birth name, Peter Quill, the Guardians of the Galaxy films have largely centered on Pratt’s Star-Lord as he brought Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Raccoon, Vin Diesel’s Groot and Pom Klementieff’s Mantis together to save the galaxy from a variety of threats, though he apparently isn’t the key hero in one creative’s eyes.
In a recent interview with Empire (via The Direct), James Gunn opened up about the story for the highly anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While noting that Peter’s processing of Gamora’s leaving will be a key factor to the plot, Rocket Raccoon will ultimately be the main focus of the film, and even revealed that he’s always considered Cooper’s hero to be the real Guardians of the Galaxy protagonist across the trilogy. See what Gunn shared below:
I would say Peter’s kind of a mess. I think he’s suffering from major detachment issues. For me, [Rocket] was always the secret protagonist of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. You’ve never seen Rocket in any movie not do something altruistic. He’s never done anything other than for his friends. He’s not a hero in the typical sense of the word. Telling his story was really important to me.
Why Rocket Will Be The Protagonist In Vol. 3
It’s understandable Star-Lord has largely been considered the main protagonist through the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and the recently released The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Not only did his backstory get a proper introduction in the trilogy launcher, but his family lineage proved to be the main plot point of 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 while the Disney+ holiday special touched upon his grief surrounding Yondu’s death and history with the former Ravager leader around the Christmas season. In a stark contrast to the previous films, however, it was clear early into the film’s development that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would be shifting its focus to that of Rocket over Pratt’s Star-Lord.
Gunn confirmed both prior to and during production that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would finally explore Rocket’s origin story, further sparking theories that Cooper’s character would be the main focus and could even die by the end of the story. The recently released first Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer has even seemingly hinted at Rocket’s death, seeing him exasperatedly stating he was “done running” from the demons of his past. Other clips of the team crying over an unseen figure, his line of “we’ll all fly away together” and being in a mysterious white location have also brought preemptive tears to many audiences’ eyes for the potential death of the character.
On the flip side, however, some theories have taken note of the inclusion of Lylla the otter in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer as potentially alluding to a different take on their comic book relationship, with her and Rocket getting a happy ending together rather than her going off to marry Rocket’s rival Blackjack O’Hare. Given Gunn has heavily hinted at least one key character will die in the film, it could come to be that Rocket is ultimately one of the only surviving members of the original Guardians and will carry on the lessons learned from his friends throughout the previous films. Only time will tell when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5.
Source: Empire (Via The Direct)