Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had its Los Angeles premiere last night, and today, Marvel took some of the cast and crew together for a press conference about the film. On the call were: James Gunn, Kevin Feige, Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Chudwudi Iwuji, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Maria Bakalova, and Karen Gillan. The moderator was Nathan Fillion. During the press conference, we got some insights about the making of the movie and just what the movie means for everyone involved.
James Gunn had glowing praise for everyone on the cast including Chukwudi Iwuji and his performance as The High Evolutionary. They also had a fun moment where they both couldn’t agree on how exactly Chukwudi got the part.
“He said I don’t know what your schedule is, but I’d like you to play the High Evolutionary. I just blinked and mumbled something. The closest I had come to Marvel before was my local IMAX.”
Chukwudi Iwuji
One character that got plenty of focus during the press conference was Mantis. Pom Klementieff might have only joined the team in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, but she’s the center of the team according to Pom and James Gunn.
“For me it’s Mantis and James Gunn, he changed my life. She’s an empath, you have to have a deeper connection with anything and anyone. I got to be super weird which is fun to do.”
Pom Klementieff
James Gunn said that Mantis is the glue that keeps the Guardians together.
Chris Pratt had a star-making performance as Star-Lord in the first Guardians movie. Here’s what he had to say about his last day on set for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
In one of the funnier moments of a hilarious press conference, between Nathan Fillion hamming it up as a host, the cast were asked what their “guilty pleasure” music favorites were. Most everyone said that guilty pleasures don’t exist and that they like to own them. Kevin Feige was not one of those people. The music he likes listening to?
The incidental music on The Price Is Right.
That led to an entire section from Kevin Feige about how the music on The Price Is Right isn’t just the normal theme. There are longer compositions.
Two people who are newcomers or relative newcomers to the cast are Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and Maria Bakalova as Cosmo The Space Dog. Poulter used his inexperience on set to help shape his role as Adam Warlock.
“The thing I shared with Adam was the sense of trying to figure out what the hell was going on. I was the new kid, like Adam arriving to the world.”
Here’s what Maria had to say about getting the role of Cosmo and how she went about voicing the character.
“I was even more excited to play a dog. When I got the call, I was mindblown. I think I started jumping.”
“I was trying to speak with dogs, bark with them.”
Finally, James Gunn talked about the music in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and had a lot to say about how that music fits into his creative process.
“It was harder to pick the music for this movie because of the expanded eras. I keep a list of hundreds of songs that would be ‘Guardians’ type songs.”
James Gunn
Overall, this was one of the best press conferences between Nathan Fillion hosting, the camaraderie of the cast, and the questions that were asked by members of the press.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 releases in theaters on May 5th, 2023.
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