Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 gives James Gunn’s actor brother his big spotlight (along with Rocket voice actor Bradley Cooper). But what’s next?
From the beginning, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies were a personal project for James Gunn. The trilogy of films include some classic Marvel characters, but reinvent them for Gunn’s career-long theme about misfits finding their comfort zones and building found families. With Gunn moving on to co-lead DC’s movie operation, this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a goodbye to his iteration of those characters. But as a post-credits card teases, it might not mean the end of their stories in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What does that mean for James’ brother Sean? Sean Gunn has been in all three Guardians movies as Kraglin, sidekick to former Ravager leader Yondu (Michael Rooker), and inheritor of Yondu’s Yaka Arrow, the whistle-controlled weapon that repeatedly crops up in the trilogy. Sean is also the on-set actor for Rocket Raccoon, the CG character voiced by Bradley Cooper, both in Gunn’s films and in crossovers like Thor: Love and Thunder and the Avengers movies.
Sean Gunn has been a TV and movie actor for more than 25 years — he tells Polygon that his favorite role was in Gilmore Girls, as quirky Stars Hollow resident Kirk Gleason — but he’s also been closely associated with his brother’s work, often taking multiple roles in James’ projects. Would he want to carry on as either Rocket or Kraglin now that his brother’s moved away from Marvel?
“It’s been 10 years I’ve been doing this, and the physical part of playing Rocket is something I know I need to retire from after this movie,” Gunn says. “It’s hard on my feet and ankles. [Playing him] is really challenging, really difficult. And it’s gotten harder as I got older. I was up for it, I was glad I was able to do it, I’m fortunate I was able to be there for it. But that’s something I’m happy to say goodbye to.”
Kraglin, on the other hand, he’d be happy to see return in a later Marvel movie. “I certainly never close any doors when it comes to that kind of thing,” he says. “I love telling great stories, and if there’s a way to get in on another great story, I’d certainly be open to it. There’s a sadness to completing James’ incarnation of the Guardians. But the Guardians are still alive, and the idea of the Guardians — what they stand for, in terms of finding family anywhere, and sticking up for the little guy, and ‘we’re all in this together’ — that idea lives on, and lives on strongly, so there’s always more.
