Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 might have been a bit baggier and not quite as focused as its acclaimed predecessor was, but it arguably placed the spotlight on its characters even more. In particular, it did an amazing job of fully humanizing Michael Rooker’s Yondu. Peter’s childhood kidnapper being reinterpreted as his adoptive daddy could have felt cheap, but both the actors and James Gunn’s writing really sell the dysfunctional father-son dynamic.
It didn’t come as much of a surprise, then, when we found ourselves welling up when Yondu sacrifices his own life in order to save his “son,” when he gives Star-Lord his air supply – which is actually a neat mirror of Peter’s own heroic act towards Gamora in the first movie. The ensuing funeral scene is also pretty touching, with Peter’s “Hasselhoff” speech injecting just the right amount of light humour into the moment before it undercuts the emotion.
With such an increased role for the character in Vol. 2 then, some fans were upset that he was killed off so soon, as it felt like we were just getting to know him. And though there’s been no word on if he’ll ever make a return to the MCU, that didn’t stop ComicBook.com from asking Michael Rooker about it when they caught up with him at Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Nashville this past weekend.
Of course, the actor wouldn’t spill anything about that, but did speak a bit about James Gunn’s sequel instead, explaining that he always knew the film would resonate with people like it did and even stated that it was made for him. While that’s obviously more of a joke, it’s true that Vol. 2 really gave Yondu a chance to shine – as mentioned above – and instantly turned the character into a bonafide fan favorite. So much so, in fact, that as Rooker told ComicBook.com, he now gets recognized more for his MCU role than his time on The Walking Dead.
But circling back to the chances of Yondu one day showing his face again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we wouldn’t rule it out. After all, Captain Marvel is set in the past while Avengers 4 will almost definitely feature time travel, thus giving the studio two possible films in which the character could make a surprise return. Not to mention that they’ve also got a lot of cosmic stuff coming down the pipeline in Phase 4.
For now, though, we’ll remain content with how well Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 treated the character and are happy that James Gunn gave him a fitting, beautiful send-off. Even if we do hope that somewhere down the road, we get to see Yondu again.
