Guardians of the Galaxy: James Gunn Reveals Cut Line He Wants to “George Lucas” Back Into Film

Filmmaker James Gunn has been adamant about how much fun and freedom he’s had working for Marvel Studios, frequently speaking about how he’s never been limited and hindered while working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That in mind, Gunn has revealed a moment where he voluntarily took something out of the script for Guardians of the Galaxy, not to appease the powers that be over a controversial gag, but because he felt like he was already getting away with a lot. This line has lingered in his brain since he hit the delete key all those years ago and he seemingly has regrets about its removal.

“Perhaps it’s because I’m lucky, or perhaps because of my openness & studio execs knowing they’re being rationally considered that, after making five films, I have never once been told by a studio I HAD to put something in or cut something out,” Gunn wrote to a fan inquiring about handling studio notes. “On two occasions – once in Slither & once in Guardians Vol 1, I took out something (two shots in Slither, one line in Vol 1) that I really didn’t want to. But I did that as a way to compromise, because the studios had been so good at letting me ‘get my way.’”

Gunn tweeted that the line was an addendum to a scene that is already in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, revealing that a cut line from Drax was originally planned to answer something Star-Lord says about halfway through the film. You can find the original exchange below.

Gunn is clearly still in love with the dialogue though and tweeted, “I so wanna George Lucas it back in I can’t tell you.” Lucas famously made changes and edits to his Star Wars feature films after their released, most notable the “Special Editions” that debuted in the 1990s and kick-started the never ending “Han shot first” meme.

The good news for Gunn is that even though a Special Edition-ing of Guardians of the Galaxy might be unlikely, he’s got another chance to play with the characters very soon. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 currently has no release date but Gunn will return to the franchise as writer and director once again, whether this will provide him a chance to include the above line in some form remains to be seen. The new sequel will pick up from Avengers: Endgame and likely the upcoming Thor: Love & Thunder, which is confirmed to include at least some of the Guardians characters.