Guardians of the Galaxy’s James Gunn Says Yondu Won’t Be Brought Back to Life

Yondu (Michael Rooker) is dead and it looks like he’s staying that way. One Guardians fan eager to know if the archer from Centauri IV would ever return received an honest-enough answer from James Gunn in an Instagram Q&A Monday night. No, the character won’t return alive. According to the fan-favorite filmmaker, Yondu’s permanently staying dead because he wants his films to have stakes.

“Not to life no,” Gunn replied. “If a character dies in my films they will likely stay dead. I think stakes are important.” Obvious enough, Gunn’s wording on his response is nothing short of peculiar. While Yondu will stay dead in the present timeline, it would seem to suggest maybe a future Guardians movie could feature a flashback of the sort — that is, of course, how you would choose to decipher Gunn’s response.

The friendship between Gunn and Rooker has been well-documented, with the director previously saying he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to do another Guardians film if the actor couldn’t be a part of the project. “Michael Rooker, for all the crap I give him, is one of my closest friends in the world and the last thing I wanted to do was to make a movie without Michael Rooker in the future,” Gunn said during a Facebook Live Q&A in 2017. “I almost didn’t do Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because there was no Michael Rooker in it and I couldn’t see making the movie without him. He means that much to me and I love him that much.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has yet to set a release date.

Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, Spider-Man 3 on July 16, 2021, What If…? in Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021, and Black Panther 2 on May 6, 2022. Marvel Studios Disney+ series without release dates include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and She-Hulk.