James Gunn Explains Why Ego Told Star-Lord About His Mother

“You shouldn’t have killed my mother and squished my Walkman.”

Since Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opened in Japan this weekend, getting off to a 15% better start than its predecessor, director and screenwriter James Gunn now feels comfortable discussing spoilers, so he took part in a spoiler-filled Q&A session on his Facebook page today.

One fan brought up the pivotal moment in which Ego The Living Planet revealed to his son Peter Quill that he deliberately killed his mother, Meredith Quill. We understand why he did it. Out of all of the lifeforms that he wooed and impregnated, Ego genuinely loved the earthling. But the longer he was away from the light in his planet so that he could visit her caused him to become physically vulnerable and, more importantly, distracted the little ‘g’ from his “Expansion” plan.

So like many of us, this fan wanted to know why Ego felt it was necessary to divulge that information to Peter, seeing as though it couldn’t possibly benefit him.

“Ego is a very complicated character. I think that Ego, and really the whole movie, is about ego,” Gunn explained. “This is true. It is about Ego taking over… He told [Peter] because on some level he wants to have a connection with his son. And also, he thinks in that moment that Peter understands what it takes to be a conqueror. And in that moment, he shares; he is blind; he is not very good [with social interactions] He thinks he’s very good with social interactions.”

He adds: “[Ego] wants to have some sort of connection with Peter. And when Peter betrays that and shoots him, he then says, ‘I’ll just use him like I’ve used so many others in my existence.’”

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Set to the backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2,’ Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn (Slither). The film marks the return of the original Guardians, including Chris Pratt (Jurassic World) as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora; Dave Bautista (Spectre) as Drax; Vin Diesel (Furious 7) as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker (Jumper) as Yondu; Karen Gillan (The Big Short) as Nebula; and Sean Gunn (Gilmore Girls) as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff (Oldboy), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Everest), Chris Sullivan (The Knick, The Drop) and Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight, The Thing).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is now playing!