Guardians of the Galaxy’s James Gunn Reveals When He Decided To Kill Off Yondu

It turns out Yondu‘s death in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was as heartbreaking for James Gunn to write as it was for fans to watch.

While answering questions on Facebook, Gunn revealed that it was not his plant o kill Yondu when he began writing the script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol., but at some point, he was forced to accept that Yondu’s death was the natural climax of the story he had written.

Gunn has spoken before about how he wrestled with whether he should kill Yondu, not least of all because of his friendship with actor Michael Rooker. Gunn has never made a movie without Rooker in it, so knowing that Yondu isn’t coming back and that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would have Rooke or Yondu in it nearly caused Gunn to pass on directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

“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 in a Facebook live Q&A. “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.”

Gunn did ultimately decide to return and is currently working on the script that will conclude his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 currently has an 85.18 ComicBook.com Composite Score, the sixth-highest ComicBook.com Composite Score for a comic book movie of all time. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 also has a 3.99 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Rating, giving it the twelfth-highest ComicBook.com user rating among all comic book movies. Let us know what you thought of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 by giving it your own ComicBook.com user rating below.

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 and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell.