Guardians of the Galaxy writer and director James Gunn reveals which cast member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise was the one he wanted from the get-go.
Gunn shared this revelation in Disney+'s Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 documentary and how he came up with the casting for the actor and their character. "When I first went to Marvel and I pitched Guardians of the Galaxy, I brought a little book," the filmmaker recalled. "I had worked very hard trying to put this little book together of all the little pictures and photo references, and all that stuff. And in that book, there were all the characters listed and who I thought should play those characters."
Gunn added that none of the names in his book got cast, save for Gamora actor Zoe Saldaña, who Gunn said he "met and loved from the beginning." Saldaña herself would comment later in the documentary, saying, "I want to thank you [Gunn], you have been a wonderful person. You believed in me before I even believed in myself. So thank you for sticking by me. I'm going to miss Gamora, but I'm not going to miss the four hours of makeup."
Regarding the actors who were picked, Gunn talked about how he and Drax the Destroyer actor Dave Bautista succeeded in getting Marvel Studios to cast Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord after Pratt flubbed his first audition back in April. According to Gunn, he got Bautista and Pratt to do an improv scene audition together and the actors' chemistry won Marvel over on casting Pratt.
James Gunn Supports the Guardians Moving On Without Him
On the topic of the future of the Guardians franchise itself, Gunn said in an interview prior to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 about the subject, "It would absolutely not be disloyal of them to me to continue on in the Marvel Universe. I would love to see any characters that remain [at the end of the film] get solo movies, or join the Avengers, or a new version of the Guardians, or whatever."
Gunn would subsequently state that he and Marvel had talked about the franchise's future, with the latter confirming that Star-Lord will return, though when and where he'll do so is currently unknown. That said, Gunn won't be involved with any future Guardians projects due to him now being co-president and co-CEO of DC Studios.
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is streaming on Disney+.
Source: Disney+, via The Direct