Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will complete James Gunn’s beloved MCU trilogy. As Peter Quill mourns the loss of Gamora, the rest of the Guardians adapt to life on Knowhere. A familiar threat from Rocket’s past returns, putting his life in danger. The rest of the Guardians will work together to protect one of their own against a formidable evil, but if they fail, this could be the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is written and directed by James Gunn, making him the only creator in the MCU to accomplish such an impressive feat. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, and Maria Bakalova reprise their roles as the iconic heroes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Will Poluter and Chukwudi Iwuji join the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 cast as Adam Warlock and the High Evolutionary, respectively.
Screen Rant spoke with Sean Gunn about playing Kraglin and Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. He discussed Kraglin’s growth over the course of Guardians and shared his excitement about the DC animated series Creature Commandos. Gunn also explained how important the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy has been to his brother’s growth as a creator.
Sean Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Screen Rant: Sean, what a tremendous bookend to the Guardians of the Galaxy journey. I don’t think I was emotionally ready for it. How has Kraglin grown from Guardians Vol. 2 and the Holiday Special into Guardians Vol. 3?
Sean Gunn: I think that Kraglin, like the other Guardians, is trying to find his place in that world. And the whole theme of the Guardians movies is about finding your family and finding where it is that you belong. We certainly know from the end of the second movie, Kraglin’s adrift, so he just ends up on the ship with the Guardians. He’s a great pilot, so he can be useful, [but he] has not mastered the Yaka Arrow.
We know from the Guardians Special that he’s still doing that job and finding his way in, and that he doesn’t even try to use the Yaka Arrow in the Holiday Special because I think he’s embarrassed of the whole thing. That’s our leaping off point in the third movie. Where does this guy belong? I think that there’s a lot of Kraglin discovering that, “Hey, I’m a member of this family too.”
This is the first Guardians movie that Kraglin hasn’t had Yondu with him. How is he coping after the loss of Yondu in Guardians Vol. 2?
Sean Gunn: Part of Kraglin’s story is in the prodigal son parable. Kraglin’s the son who stayed; Quill’s the son who left and then is greeted by Yondu and seems like the favorite son. I think that Kraglin is left with “Wait, what about me? I’ve been loyal, and I’ve been here the whole time.” That’s really part of the journey, putting all these things together and figuring out how that plays upon him. I think that Kraglin really does learn some things about what Yondu means to him and what Yondu really did give him at the end of the day.
I love the message of found family. That’s a theme throughout all the Guardians films, and I love Kraglin’s interaction with each member of the team. How is he fitting in with the Guardians?
Sean Gunn: Kraglin’s a soldier in nature. He’s very loyal and very much wants to be doing his part to help the team. There’s a few times in the movie when they’re like, “Hey, we need you, Kraglin. We need your help, we need something that you have to offer.” That’s the best feeling in the world for Kraglin, like, “Yes, I’m here. This is what I’ve been doing and let me jump in, all hands on deck. Let me do what I can do.”
You do a tremendous job at playing the physical version of Rocket. Can you talk to me about bringing to life this new aspect of Rocket in the film?
Sean Gunn: Yeah, it was a little different in this film because usually in the previous films as Rocket, he’s down on the ground a lot because he’s looking up at all the other actors. But in this movie, we go into Rocket’s backstory a little bit, and when we see Rocket interacting with his friends from way back when, they’re all the same size. So, we were actually able to do more traditional motion capture work and really get the whole sense of Rocket, top to bottom.
The process in itself was a little bit different, but just from a preparation standpoint and from the emotional standpoint of really digging into the character, a lot of that is pretty much the same. But Rocket has a lot to do in this movie, which is cool.
Which dynamic between Kraglin and any of the Guardians is your favorite? I can tell you mine’s Cosmo.
Sean Gunn: It’s got to be Cosmo now, right? Let’s be fair, Kraglin’s being a little bit of a jerk to Cosmo in this third movie. You’re like, “Come on, Kraglin. Give her a break.” I love their rapport with one another, and it made it really easy to work with such a giving and talented actress like Maria. She’s doing for Cosmo, in some sense, what I have helped do as Rocket in the past. I understand that part of it too, and that was really cool for me.
Can you talk about that a little bit? Because she was doing the mocap for the most part. Was there any insight you were able to share with her?
Sean Gunn: The one thing I said to Maria at the beginning when we started filming was that it looks and feels weird for about the first five minutes, but it goes away very quickly. And you are a full member of the ensemble just like everyone else and the other actors. I knew how giving and great to work with the other actors in the Guardians are. So, I think everyone was like, “Hey, we get this.” And it wasn’t hard for her, because she’s up for anything.
Prior to James Gunn directing Guardians of the Galaxy, I knew about the Guardians through a little game called Hero Clicks. These characters are now front and center. What do you think is the secret to James making the audience fall in love with these lesser-known characters?
Sean Gunn: I think that the secret is really, really loving and taking real time and patience with each character. It’s not just a whole mishmash of, “Hey, here’s a bunch of weird characters.” It’s like each character has their own point of view; the story is told from everybody’s point of view, and they all come from somewhere different.
That’s how you get to really care about characters is that they each have a unique perspective on the world. And the great thing about the Guardians is that’s what the movies celebrate. “Hey, we all have a different perspective on the world. We have a different place that we’re coming from, but at the end of the day, we’re all in this together.”
James Gunn started with the Troma films, which I was a big fan of, and I loved Slither. I’ve loved pretty much everything he’s done. How have you seen him grow as a filmmaker and storyteller with this Guardians trilogy?
Sean Gunn: Seeing James really get into his skin has been one of the joys for me of the whole process. Seeing him figure out, get his sea legs, figure out who he is as a creator, and just get better at it. I think something that he and I have in common is, like a lot of everybody that’s worked on these movies in some capacity, that we’re trying to improve, get better, and keep honing our skills.
But it was really awesome for me to go into even the first movie and think, “Oh, this is such a bigger project. Maybe it’ll be that much harder for James.” And for some reason, I don’t know what it is about him, but it seemed easier. It seemed like it was more him; it was more his style. He was more comfortable on set and continues to do that, which is pretty awesome. It’s a good way to tackle things.
Throughout this whole journey, how do you think you have grown as an actor from Guardians Vol. 1 to Vol. 3?
Sean Gunn: I think that it’s part of that same thing of just trying to get better and improve all the time. I think that being part of this particular ensemble and working with these awesome actors has been the greatest thing for my career that I could have ever imagined. Because I think that at the end of the day, what really improves me personally as an actor, the thing that makes me get better is figuring out how to give more of myself.
To understand that this process, the creative process, is an act of giving. To work with people who I can learn from, who do that same thing and have that same care and patience in the work that they do has just helped me hopefully get better and better. And I do aspire to just keep improving. That’s what it’s all about, right?
I think Guardians has the best trilogy in the MCU. How did Guardians 3’s set feel different knowing this is kind of an end of an era?
Sean Gunn: There [were] a lot of tears, but it’s also a joyful experience to be able to feel like you completed something that you care about. I think that if we all had this perspective that, “Oh, it’s always open-ended, there can always be a fourth movie, then maybe there’ll be a fifth movie, and maybe it’ll go on and on and on.” It can dilute the specialness for lack of better words.
I think that knowing that, “Hey, we’re going to try to complete this part of the story, then we’re going to take it, and we’re going to give it to an audience.” It makes it a joyful experience as well as the sadness of not being together as much and not seeing everybody as much. But it has to be part of it. That’s the only way to really make it great.
Is there anything about Kraglin that you didn’t get a chance to explore that you’d want to in the future?
Sean Gunn: There’s always places to go with a character and if we leave off with Kraglin, he has changed so much. If you look at him in the first scene, we see him in the first movie to the last scene we see him in the last movie, wow, what a tremendous arc that he’s had. But there can always be more. I don’t ever close the door on exploring what goes on further. That’s part of the fun.
You’ve worked with James on a number of superhero projects, like the Suicide Squad. What sets the Guardians of the Galaxy apart from other productions that you’ve worked on him with?
Sean Gunn: I think that, as we were talking about before, it’s really Guardians that helped James stop as a creator; stop circling around the bullseye and really find it. It’s almost like Guardians was the key that unlocked the door that now is open to all sorts of different things. I think there’s so much more to explore. There’s so many more stories to tell and all that, but it’s always going to be the thing that really got there first in a way.
You are announced for something I’m really excited about: Creature Commandos. What can we expect?
Sean Gunn: I love Creature Commandos. I don’t know how much I can share without violating some kind of NDA, but I love the project. I can’t wait for audiences to see it. We’ve been working on it already. I play two characters. I don’t know how James keeps slipping me into two characters. He’s helping employ me, for sure.
But I play The Weasel, who we’ve all seen already in Suicide Squad, who does a lot of grunting and so on. But I also play this really cool character named GI Robot who is a robot built in the World War II era who just hates Nazis more than anything. And that’s something I hope that we can all relate to; hating Nazis.
Is this the same weasel that we saw on Suicide Squad?
Sean Gunn: Yeah, it’s the same character. I don’t know how much I can divulge, but we’ll learn a little more about Weasel in Creature Commandos, which is fun.
About Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
In the final chapter of the trilogy, the Guardians of the Galaxy are adjusting to life on Knowhere while Peter Quill is still reeling from the loss of Gamora. When a new threat from Rocket’s past resurfaces, Peter rallies the Guardians to save one of their own and once again protect the universe. However, failure could mean the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
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