Anna Daniels
Death in the MCU has become relative ever since Avengers: Endgame toyed with the idea that coming back is always still possible. This doesn’t necessarily mean certain deaths still aren’t permanent, despite probably finding ways to disrupt this if given the chance.
With James Gunn returning to direct Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, everyone should have expected he’d attempt to stir the pot from the usual. Since he now shares almost 50% movie DNA with the DC Universe, doing things a little darker was written in the cards.
Whether his vision clashes with Disney’s is another thing. After saying recently on social media that no one should get too emotionally attached to the GotG characters, it’s made the cast (like Chris Pratt) a little concerned about what’s going to happen.
Death will be inevitable in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’
Gunn made some interesting comments on Twitter recently regarding his philosophy on killing off heroic characters in movies. Of course, death in movies has been the true heart of most classics, other than only a few.
Disney, ironically, brought the most troubling aspects to death than any other studio back to Hollywood’s earliest days. Considering films like Bambi broached the subject of losing a parent and having to cope in a bewildering world, it set the path for other studios to do the same.
It’s easy to list several hundred famous death scenes in the history of film. In all those cases, none of them had the characters come back to life, other than (ironically again) Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and some sci-fi classics.
When the MCU began, death was still considered permanent until the Avengers started messing with the space-time continuum using the Infinity Stones. The aspects of a multiverse and time travel opened up any possibility of death not being permanent, something Gunn may not really believe in.
Gunn thinks the death of heroes helps us cope with death in real life
Based on recent interviews and his tweets, Gunn thinks death is important in the MCU as a parallel to reality. Processing death through a superhero can help give society a similar way to grieve for someone close.
He does have a point there, though he’s hinted at least one character will die in GotG Vol. 3. Whether he was serious about this or just playing around with the fans, it apparently had some of the cast a bit worried about their fates.
One of those is Chris Pratt based on the possibility Star-Lord will be the one to die. Others think it’ll be more than one character wiped out, as in Rocket Raccoon. When it happens, it may end up being permanent, outside of these characters participating in the time travel plan in Endgame.
Part of Vol. 3 will reportedly involve Peter Quill/Star-Lord trying to hook back up romantically with Gamora after the past version of the latter replaced the present version. Having Quill die after rekindling his Gamora romance would potentially bring the kind of emotion these films usually muster.
What if it’s more than one character that dies?
Don’t be surprised if it’s more than just Star-Lord dying. There isn’t anything official Star-Lord will be one of them, yet someone is likely going to die based on comic book track record. Chris Pratt has expressed a little bit of concern for this on his Twitter account without dwelling too much on it.
He apparently doesn’t know what’s going to happen, something likely amended soon. That is, unless Gunn keeps it a secret until they film the scene to get a more shocked reaction on the screen.
A few fans think Star-Lord’s death would be to make up for creating the chain of events leading to the myriad deaths in Infinity War. Some analysts think all of that was preordained anyway via Doctor Strange.
No matter who dies, it may be darker territory Gunn tries to sneak into the MCU. Latter may gradually evolve this as DC gives them a run for their money in the years ahead.
Written by: Cheat
