Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: James Gunn Tried to Do “One Take” Fight Scene in First Movie

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been in theaters for a few weeks now, culminating a years-long journey within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film, which is writer-director James Gunn’s last (for now) blockbuster with Marvel Studios, is jam-packed with elements that feel long overdue — including, apparently, one of the film’s best fight scenes. In a recent interview with Marvel.com, Gunn revealed that he tried to do a one-take fight scene in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but it did not come to fruition for one specific reason.

“I’m standing there with Dave Bautista and Chris Pratt. And Chris and Dave look over me, and they’re like, James, we’ve never seen this scene,” Gunn recalled “I’m like, what? And they’re like, ‘We’ve never seen this scene. We never rehearsed this scene. You can’t have an actor come on and just do a scene as complicated as that.’ So, this is making up for that in spades.”

Luckily, Vol. 3 does include an extended shot of the Guardians fighting the Hell Spawn in a hallway, which was brought to life in a complex way.

“James wanted to showcase a couple beats from each character, and it flows from character to character to character,” co-stunt coordinator Wayne Dalglish explained. “We thought it was fun, interesting, and entertaining which is what James wanted because it was a showcase for all of them. Once they do it, it comes to life.”

“This was just a labor of love and passion for everybody on this set,” stunt coordinator Heidi Moneymaker added. “We had been planning it and working it out and redoing it and redoing it for like 6 months. The action’s really cool. The way that it’s shot is incredible. All the actors are involved doing just amazing things in that big fight.”

What is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 about?

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. 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.

Vol. 3 sees the return of Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, and Maria Bakalova as Cosmo. Joining the cast are Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and Daniela Melchior and Nico Santos in currently-unknown roles.

What did you think of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s one-take fight scene? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now playing exclusively in theaters.