Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Trailer Features Touching Callback to Yondu’s Death

James Gunn has never been afraid to shy away from breaking the hearts of audiences everywhere. Because of that, movie-goers have had to witness one gut-wrenching moment after the next over the span of two Guardians of the Galaxy films, including the death of one Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker). The feels won’t stop coming as the latest trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, with two of the characters paying tribute in similar fashion once Yondu died.

About halfway through the threequel’s latest trailer, both Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Groot (Vin Diesel) can be seen extending their arms across their chests and tapping their opposite shoulder twice, otherwise known as given the Ravager Salute. The most memorable time the salute was used is when the older Guardians such as Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone) and Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames) paid tribute to Yondu at his funeral. Now that doesn’t mean one of the Guardians members will be dying here, but it doesn’t help the shot was included in the trailer.

As said by James Gunn many times before, Yondu will stay dead as long as he’s helming the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, meaning if someone does die during Vol. 3, it will likely have lasting ramifications on the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“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 about Yondu’s death in a Facebook live Q&A in 2017. “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.”

Marvel’s synopsis for the sequel can be found below.

“In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past,” the synopsis reads. “Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life-a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.”

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and the rest of the Guardians franchise, is now available exclusively on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5th.

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