Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Director James Gunn on the Saddest Moment Most Fans Didn’t Catch

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is available on VOD, which means you can now listen to director James Gunn’s audio commentary. There’s a lot to learn about the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, including some emotional moments fans might not have noticed. The threequel has a lot of sad scenes, most of which involve Rocket, but Gamora’s (Zoe Saldaña) story is also pretty heartbreaking. The character died in Avengers: Infinity War, but an older version of the character returned in Avengers: Endgame, which means she has no memory of her romance with Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) or the time she spent becoming a family with the Guardians. There’s a scene between Groot and Gamora at the end of the third film, and Gunn wants fans to remember that Groot thinks of Gamora as his mom, which makes the moment extra sad.

“This is a scene that I don’t think people necessarily understand. Groot — his mother is Gamora, to him, in his eyes. We’ve seen Baby Groot, and how much Gamora loves him in Volume 2, and how much he loves her. Like…that is his mom. And so there’ a particular sadness here, where she doesn’t remember him. That, to me, is one of the saddest things in the entire movie, that your mother doesn’t know who you are. And it’s such a small moment where she understands him, suddenly,” Gunn explained. 

James Gunn Confirms Groot Theory:

At the end of the film, Groot declares, “I love you guys,” which marks the first time the character has said something other than “I am Groot” aside from his “We are Groot” line in the first film. There’s a fan theory floating around that suggests Groot actually did say his usual “I am Groot” at that moment, but the audience has been with the character long enough to now understand him, just like his Guardians family. Recently, Gunn confirmed the theory on Twitter. 

“I really need this to be true @JamesGunn,” @FranTGP tweeted along with an io9 article detailing the Groot theory. “Spoiler…. Yes that’s exactly what it means,” Gunn confirmed.

When Is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Coming To DVD?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be available on DVD and Blu-ray starting August 1st. In addition to Gunn’s commentary, the disc version of the film will also include deleted scenes and a gag reel.