Zoe Saldana Teases Emotional Farewell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Exclusive)

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the end of the road for this iteration of the Marvel team, and star Zoe Saldaña is emotional at the thought. Saldaña is on the marketing train for James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, as the first reactions to the Avatar sequel make their way online. There is a lot of anticipation for both Avatar: The Way of Water and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but what's at the top of mind for Marvel fans is director James Gunn's farewell to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis spoke to Zoe Saldaña and Sam Worthington about Avatar: The Way of Water. After asking Saldaña about revisiting characters they haven't played in a decade, Davis turned the topic to the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Since the first Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer just released, there was a question of if the trailer was an accurate representation of the final film.

"It is an accurate representation. It is a farewell," Zoe Saldaña told ComicBook.com. "James Gunn is a really good writer. He really likes to write human characters with flaws. In a way, it's going to be a nice conversation, just like Avatar, to look around you. It's not just about your journey, it's about the journey of your environment and the people around you... maybe animals and nature. So it's going to be really nice."

Gamora Missing From Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

While Gamora is shown in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer, she is a missing participant from the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+. There are definitely moments in the new special that will come up again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. During a recent interview with ComicBook.com's Phase Zero host Brandon Davis, director James Gunn was asked if the holiday special is required viewing before the movie.

"Well, I'm always trying to be balanced with these things, so I think it's wonderful," Gunn explained. "People should see the Holiday Special. You're obviously gonna learn a lot about where the Guardians have been in the past few years. You know, you're gonna see how they now inhabit Knowhere. They've got a new ship called the Bowie. They've got a dog [who] is part of their crew now who has telekinesis named Cosmo. So where you get to learn all that, and then there's a couple of bigger pieces of spoiler-y lore. You're gonna learn all of those things. In a way, the Holiday Special was a Trojan Horse for me to sneak in stuff that becomes important in Volume 3, so I don't have to spend a lot of time at the beginning of that movie explaining it."

Avatar: The Way of Water arrives in theaters on December 16th. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is slated for a May 5, 2023 release.