Kurt Russell’s Ego The Living Planet Is “Absolute Center” Of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 2
The director of the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel talks in great detail here about how important Kurt Russell’s role is, and why he chose Ego the Living Planet to be Star-Lord's father.
“Yeah, his dad is a planet… Sort of,” James Gunn started. “It will all be explained in the film. But to me, this is the absolute center of Vol. 2, and one of the reasons I’ve been so excited about it.” For those who might think the character is a bit too outlandish for the big-screen, the filmmaker recalled how he initially thought that Rocket Raccoon and Groot would be too ridiculous of a concept for a Marvel movie. However, he eventually fell in love with and related to both motley characters (as did general audiences). “Ego [the Living Planet] seemed, in many ways, like an even more ridiculous character,” he said. “But I asked myself, if a planet was alive, how could that be? And how could it father a child?”
“The answers to those questions took me to a far deeper place [than] I expected,” Gunn continued enthusiastically. “I don’t want to give away too many answers at this time. But what Nova Prime said about Peter’s father at the end of [the first movie] is certainly true – he is something ancient and unknown. And, as we will discover, being a cosmic being, alone for eons, is perhaps even more lonely than being the universe’s sole talking raccoon. I can’t wait for you guys to see Kurt Russell bring this character to life onscreen. It has been a rapturous experience creating Ego with him. We’ve both pushed ourselves as far as we can go in making him real, and grounded, and emotionally centered.”
Immediately after the panel, and before he got to Facebook, James Gunn had talked even more about Ego the Living Planet and why he chose that character to be Star-Lord’s father. The director also revealed an interesting dynamic we’ll see in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 between both aforementioned characters, as well as Michael Rooker’s Yondu Udonta.
“I think it’s really the tale of 2 fathers,” he told IGN of the Vol 2 story. “It’s the tale of his father Ego, who’s a cosmic being, and his father Yondu, who’s the abusive stepfather who raised him. And I think it’s really about both of those relationships and where they go, and how Peter [Quill] develops]. I think the first movie at the heart of it was a story about Quill and his mother, and this story at the heart of it is about Peter and his fathers. Which is the father of heart? Is it one? Both? Neither? He has got to figure that out for himself.”
Check out James Gunn’s promising full Facebook post HERE and watch his full interview with IGN below, as well as a few others with the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 cast.