Yondu will remain dead in the Marvel movies, at least if director James Gunn has his way. The blue-skinned space pirate, played by Michael Rooker, died in a poignant scene at the end of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2‘, and it looks as though he’s staying that way.
During an Instagram Q&A, Gunn responded to a question about Yondu’s return, saying:
“Not to life no. If a character dies in my films they will likely stay dead. I think stakes are important.”
Back in 2017, Gunn expressed his love for working with Rooker stating:
“Michael Rooker, for all the crap I give him, is one of my closest friends in the world and the last thing I wanted to do was to make a movie without Michael Rooker in the future. I almost didn’t do Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because there was no Michael Rooker in it and I couldn’t see making the movie without him. He means that much to me and I love him that much.”
Ironically, the option was taken out of his hands after Disney fired him when offensive old tweets surfaced, which the studio didn’t find to be in keeping with its family-friendly image. However, after a failed hunt for a replacement, Disney reinstated Gunn for the third picture.
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In the meantime, Gunn is filming ‘The Suicide Squad’ for Warner Brothers, and that picture does include Rooker, who portrays the assassin Savant. ‘The Suicide Squad’ also stars Steve Agee as King Shark, Flula Borg as Javelin, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, David Dastmalchian as Polka Dot Man, Pete Davidson as Blackguard, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Nathan Fillion as Arm-Fall-Off Boy, Sean Gunn as The Weasel, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, Mayling Ng as Mongal, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.
As for ‘Guardians Vol. 3’, Gunn recently stated that:
“I won’t start filming for a year or so.”
When that time arrives, presumably the cast will consist of Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord/Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, and the voices of Bradley Cooper as Rocket, and Vin Diesel as Groot. It’s possible that Chris Hemsworth’s Thor will also appear, and likely that Sean Gunn will be back as Kraglin. It’s also possible that Elizabeth Debicki will return as Ayesha, along with Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord (Starhawk), with his team of Michael Rosenbaum as Martinex, Ving Rhames as Charlie-27, and Michelle Yeoh as Aleta Ogord, plus the CGI creations Krugarr and Mainframe, the latter of which was voiced by Miley Cyrus.
‘The Suicide Squad’ will be released in theaters on August 6, 2021, while Disney has yet to announce a release date for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3’.
