James Gunn Shares Fun Guardians of the Galaxy Photos in Honor of Zoe Saldana’s Birthday

Happy Birthday, Zoe Saldana! The actor known best for playing Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe turned 43 on June 19th. Many fans and friends took to social media to honor Saldana, including Guardians of the Galaxy director, James Gunn. Gunn shared some fun photos from their time making Marvel movies together, including some shots with Dave Bautista (Drax) and Vin Diesel (Groot).

"Happy Birthday @zoesaldana. I love you, I miss you, and I can't wait to see you very soon! 🎉🎂💚," Gunn wrote. Guardians of the Galaxy star Karen Gillan (Nebula) commented "😍" on the post and Shazam! star Zachary Levi quipped, "That Singapore pic looks 100% photoshopped, even though I know it's not." You can check out the photos in the post below:

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Recently, both Saldana and Gunn have taken to social media to share some fun facts about Gamora and how she was originally going to look in the MCU. This week, Gunn explained to a Marvel fan why Drax is grey instead of green like in the comics. He explained that green is so hard to work with, which is why he almost turned Gamora blue. Earlier this month, Saldana shared that her character's eyes were almost green, but she was grateful for the change because she didn't have to wear contacts.

Last year, Gunn took to Twitter to share that Saldana was always his choice to play Gamora. "So, Zoe Saldana was my number on choice for Gamora," Gunn revealed. "I think that's the only casting idea in my pitch that ended up happening (the role of Yondu - which I wrote for [Michael] Rooker - wasn't written yet.)"

Gunn's next movie is The Suicide Squad, and he recently spoke with Den of Geek and compared the Guardians of the Galaxy team with The Suicide Squad. "I think you know from the beginning of the first Guardians that most likely, in his heart, Peter Quill is good, Gamora is good, Rocket is good, Drax is good," Gunn explained. He added about The Suicide Squad, "Some are not good people. They're bad people. It's less sentimental in that way. King Shark is much less sentimental than Groot."

The Suicide Squad hits theatres and HBO Max on August 6th. Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are now streaming on Disney+. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is expected to be released on Disney+ during the 2022 holidays, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is scheduled to be released in theatres on May 23, 2023.