***MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW!***

Ever since his mother died and he was abducted and raised by a blue-skinned space pirate, Peter Quill has longed to know who his real father is. Early on in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,Ego the Living Planet reveals that he is Peter’s long-lost father. He traveled to Earth years ago, met and fell in love with Meredith Quill, and got her pregnant.

However, when Ego’s evil master plan is finally revealed, the true lesson that Peter learns is that being a father isn’t about DNA; it’s about who raises you. So for him, it finally dawns on him that the father he has been searching for is actually Yondu, a man who turned down a fat paycheck and defied a celestial being in order to keep a young boy from incurring the same grizzly fate as his half-siblings.

Sadly, by the time Peter realizes this, Yondu rescues him from Ego’s planetary form exploding and sacrifices his own life by putting a protective suit on his son as they enter the bitter cold vacuum of space.

So, how was that tear-shedding moment shot? “It’s very moving. We all knew it was going to be a very difficult scene for them to shoot,” cinematographer Henry Braham told The Hollywood Reporter. “Not least, because they are hanging on wires, which aren’t particularly comfortable. So no matter however brilliant the stunt team is in rigging them, hanging on the wire is uncomfortable. And we had to think carefully about how do we make it the least intrusive for those two actors to perform. How do we make it the least intrusive, and yet get the audience right inside the circle — in with them. It takes respect for what they have to do. In reality, the scene was shot very, very quickly. I think it took a morning to shoot. But it took many days thinking about how are we going to make this a day that it’s about shooting the performance and not about shooting all the other stuff.”

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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 scheduled to hit theaters on May 5, 2017.