James Gunn Finally Responds To Gamora’s Avengers: Infinity War Death

Zoe Saldana as Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War

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While Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame changed a lot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, quite possibly the biggest shocker was the death, and return, of Zoe Saldana's Gamora. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 being a movie that we knew was on the way before the Avengers films happened, the event changed the entire context of that movie. However, due to James Gunn's silence on the issue, we had no idea just how he felt about the whole thing.

Recently, as part of an Instagram story where he answered a lot of fan questions, Gunn confirmed what most of us likely suspected. The death of Gamora was no problem for him, because he was well aware of the situation beforehand. One fan asked him if Gamora's death upset him and he responded...

No. It was all discussed beforehand.

Of course, James Gunn's answer is still a little vague. While he may have been ready for Gamora's Infinity War fate, and thus it didn't upset him, he doesn't say what these discussions really entailed. Did James Gunn suggest Gamora's death? Maybe the idea worked well for the story he wanted to tell in Guadians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Alternatively, the decision may have been made largely against Gunn's wishes, forcing him to have to figure out how to make the new status quo work in his movie.

Because of the speed and frequency with which Marvel movies are now being produced, everything is happening pretty quickly. The script for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was written before anybody ever saw Avengers: Infinity War, which meant that fans made assumptions about what sort of story we were going to get. Then we see how Gamora's character changes big time and then we really wonder what is in that script.

Still, we know from hearing several directors of Marvel movies talk, that the MCU is a pretty well oiled machine. Everybody has a pretty good idea what everybody else is doing, and how that might impact whatever they are working on. James Gunn would have known what was planned for Gamora in the Avengers movies so that he would incorporate it into whatever he's working on.

With the Guardians of the Galaxy movies specifically, the death of Gamora was an interesting move because the previous Guardians films have focused so much on these characters growing and changing together. The fact that, while Gamora is still "alive" in the MCU, she's a very different character, completely changes the dynamic On the one hand, fans of the Guardians were likely a little upset to see Gamora's fate in Infinity War. On the other hand, the Endgame changes certainly make things going into Guardians 3 very interesting.

Part of the reason that we haven't heard James Gunn speak on Gamora's fate is that shortly after Avengers: Infinity War was released, James Gunn was fired from directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While he was eventually reinstated, Gunn's been much quieter overall on social media than he had been previously.

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At this point we still don't actually know when the next chapter for Gamora and the other Guardians of the Galaxy will come. Vol. 3 is happening but it has no release date at this point.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.