The Guardians of the Galaxy are in the midst of a big year within the MCU, set to make three live-action appearances within the span of 10 months. Director James Gunn is at the forefront of two of those, bringing Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and the crew into a Guardians-centric holiday special in late 2022 before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives in May 2023.
With filming now complete on all of them, Gunn has shared plenty of insight into his process working on the latest MCU adventures, along with enlightening fans on how he works on the Guardians as a whole. From teasing his list of actors that he avoids working with to discussing why Marvel movies don't land with some fans, Gunn is never someone with a lack of things to say about the industry.
As has been the case for a long time, Gunn also remains passionate about setting the record straight when he feels the need, including calling out multiple bogus casting calls throughout the production of his movies. He even did this recently on social media after a fan offered some blunt criticism about Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer.
James Gunn Responds to Drax Criticism
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn took to Twitter to call out a fan who criticized Drax the Destroyer's character development in the MCU.
This fan asked for Drax "to have a hint of depth outside of just being a walking meme" in the MCU, which Gunn didn't exactly appreciate.
Gunn shared an image of Drax sharing an emotional moment with Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when she felt his arm and took in his emotions regarding the death of his daughter. The director included the simple caption "Give me a break" with that image:
When asked about his emotional attachment to the Guardians cast and characters, Gunn admitted that he works with some of his "best friends in the world," but feels even more attached to the characters from the movies:
"I’m very attached to the Guardians cast. Some of them are among my best friends in the world. But I’m even more attached to the Guardians characters, & that’s what gets me emotional while writing."
The director also addressed the way he uses music on set, explaining that the songs are playing while the shoot takes place. He also revealed that the score for the film is written and recorded ahead of time as well so that it can be played on set to get everybody "on the same page with mood & tempo:"
"On my sets we play the chosen songs while we shoot, & also play huge portions of the score which are written ahead of time (John Murphy wrote most of our primary Vol 3 cues before filming). That way everyone on set is on the same page with mood & tempo."
To close, Gunn was asked whether he has trouble finding good music to use on set and whether that's an indicator of something not working in the scene.
The director admitted that the music definitely presents a challenge to him regularly, although he also shared that "a good composer" can help with all of those problems:
"The answer to your 1st question is all the time. The answer to your 2nd is no. Many times scenes are very tonally specific to themselves, so it makes it difficult to find good temp. That doesn’t mean there’s a problem with the scene. A good composer can smooth all that out."
Gunn Clears the Air on Drax Development
Drax has been the subject of plenty of discussion amongst MCU fans, particularly with regard to how many comedic moments he's seen through his four live-action appearances to date. Even with the character's role potentially coming to an end soon, Gunn remains adamant that fans have seen Drax go through more meaningful and deep moments than he's been given credit for.
The scene he mentioned with Mantis is a prime example of that, particularly with Drax not saying a word as Mantis wept beside him in front of Ego's palace. Gunn has even admitted that he's gotten annoyed with Drax's place in online memes, reiterating here just how much he's been through on his MCU journey.
The hero's story will almost certainly continue to become even deeper in next year's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will be the last time that this team is all together in the same adventure. Even though the details remain under wraps, expect Drax to play a key role in the proceedings as Gunn brings arguably the most emotional MCU movie he's ever made.
Dave Bautista will return to the MCU in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which is expected to premiere on Disney+ at the end of this year. He'll be back again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5, 2023.
