For the past couple of years, James Gunn has been playing around in the DC toy box with his gory, irreverent take on The Suicide Squad, and its acclaimed small-screen spin-off Peacemaker. But right now, the filmmaker is back in the world of Marvel, shooting the much-anticipated Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special and the long-awaited Guardians Vol. 3, reuniting with the “bunch of A-holes” he first introduced to the MCU in 2014. The film is set to wrap up Gunn’s trilogy about the cosmic oddballs, and the prospect of saying goodbye seems to be an understandably emotional one for the cast.
Speaking to Empire in the Moon Knight issue, Gamora actor Zoe Saldana opened up about the Guardians Vol 3 shoot. “It’s bittersweet; after all those years of complaining about that green make-up, I find myself already nostalgic about it,” she says, hailing the things Gunn is aiming for on the third film. “There’s a lot of melancholy here, but also pride that we’ve achieved something great. James Gunn has written a beautiful story, that’s making us emotional even as we shoot it. Omicron plays a doozy on us every other day, but we’re getting by and we’re happy.”
Gamora was last seen in the double-whammy of Infinity War and Endgame, where she had a major part to play – setting up a very different incarnation of the character for Guardians 3. In Infinity War, she was killed by her father, Thanos, in order for him to possess the Soul Stone. And while time-travelling developments brought a Gamora back into the MCU, it’s an incarnation from a few years ago in the timeline, who doesn’t have any attachment to the Guardians or to Chris Pratt’s Star Lord. “She began as this warrior wanting to get out of a very toxic parental relationship, then she finds the Guardians, who are dysfunctional-ish as well, but they’re okay. She learns a lot and finds this bigger purpose. Then her dad comes and fucks everything up. She dies, she’s brought back, but it’s not her,” says Saldana in summary. “I think Gamora’s a little confused, I have to say! But James has weaved this wonderful story around the character and every character in this third film.”
The Guardians are next due to appear this summer in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love And Thunder, while the Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special, written and directed by Gunn, will be coming to Disney+ this December. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently dated for cinema release in May 2023.
Read the full Zoe Saldana interview in the Moon Knight issue of Empire – on sale Thursday 15 February and available to pre-order online here.