James Gunn on Creating Meaningful Female Roles in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2'

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been criticized for its lack of female superheroes — Captain Marvel will be the first solo film starring a female character since the MCU started in 2008 with Iron Man.

Yet Guardians of the Galaxy has avoided much of that scrutiny. Director James Gunn talked to Yahoo Movies about his approach to female characters. “I think, especially in Guardians Vol. 2, people will see that … the second story is really the story of the Guardians as a whole,” he told our Kevin Polowy. “Every character is treated with respect and has an arc.”

Zoe Saldana in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” (Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Zoe Saldana in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” (Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection)

Gunn said that Vol. 2 will feature more about Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and Nebula’s (Karen Gillan) relationship. “We saw that in a simplistic way the first time,” Gunn said. “Nebula’s a bad guy; Gamora’s a bad guy turned good guy. But I think we learn a lot more about who they are, where they came from, and the sister dynamic — about two sisters who have grown apart and what their feelings are for each other.”

Gunn also said he wanted to make sure he had female characters who are oddballs. “We have these fan favorite characters of Drax, Rocket, and Groot because they’re all idiots,” he pointed out. “My new character — who I’ve fallen deeply in love with — is Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff, and she’s amazing in the film, a truly magical performer; so, so funny, and just as strange as those other three.”

Zoe Saldana in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” (Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)
Zoe Saldana in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” (Photo: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection)

“Sometimes I think giving women roles in movies isn’t about just making them more powerful or stronger or smarter,” he continued. “It’s about giving them the full breadth of the human experience and making every human being a human being, even if they’re aliens.”

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