It’s looks like the new villain put into place for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. might be the most despicable the MCU has ever seen — according to James Gunn, that is. In an interview with Collider, Gunn sat down to discuss the conclusion to his epic trilogy and how he thinks audiences will react to the film’s new big baddie.
Interviewed with an adjacent featurette (below) that’s already melting minds across the internet, this final chapter of the Guardians of the Galaxy saga is going to make one hell of an emotional impact.
In the minute-and-a-half long clip, we see a young Rocket (Raccoon) along with three other imprisoned, intelligent animal friends discussing what things will be like once they’re released by “Sire.” These new characters include: Otter, Walrus, and Rabbit, who eventually become Lylla, Teefs, and Floor — respectively.
In truth, the Sire that they’re all referring to is none other than Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary, a genetic biologist experimenting on animals in his quest to build a new world.
That sounds pretty darn evil if you ask us, and James Gunn agrees entirely.
“I’ve never seen a villain in any of the Marvel movies that people f***ing despise. They f***ing hate him so much. I think it’s a result of the fact that he’s basically being cruel to animals. I mean, it’s like he just is an *sshole, and he’s an *sshole to Rocket. And Rocket’s a cute little baby at one time, and pretty innocent, and he’s not always the nicest to him, and there’s an evil to him, too, because he almost seems kind of like a father figure, but he’s bad.”
Villains can do just about whatever they want in the MCU, and folks won’t bat an eye; destroy half of the universe, attack New York, unleash unspeakable evil upon mankind — that’s all pretty standard, but if you start messing with our animals? We’ve got a bone to pick. The decision to make the High Evolutionary that kind of despicable was all part of the plan it seems, because if anyone knows what they’re doing, it’s James Gunn.
“The High Evolutionary has created them, and they know he’s building this new world out there, this new society, and they’re talking about how they’re gonna go out there. And as they do that, they begin to name themselves, they give themselves names. Before that, at the beginning of the script, they’re just Otter, Walrus, and Rabbit, and they give themselves their names.”
Watching a group of beaten down animals give themselves names is absolutely adorable, and going to be one of the emotional centers of what’s sure to be a pretty dense piece of storytelling. What’s more, watching the Guardians take on the evildoer who’s responsible for all the torture is going to be beautiful. May 5 can’t come soon enough.
