The cast and director of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 say their final goodbyes

With the end of writer/director James Gunn’s narrative trilogy with his latest Guardians of the Galaxy film, emotions ran high when his cast came together after the LA/world premiere to reflect on what the past few years meant to them getting to play their characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“I felt really good about this from the very beginning,” said Gunn with his gathered cast during the press conference. “I wanted to make this space fantasy that had all the trappings of a great one like ‘Star Wars,’ but do something different when it came to tone and story. I think we got it down.”

Gunn, who had his first meeting with Marvel Studio 11 years ago, continued by saying that he already saw the trilogy and its character and narrative arcs from that first meeting, and was glad it kept its integrity through all three films.

In “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3,” Gunn also said that this one is super personal because of Rocket’s story. “You’ve seen it in the trailers already, but this one hits close to home because when I think about it, it was Rocket’s story all along,” Gunn said getting emotional.

The other cast members felt the emotion as well, with both Chris Pratt (Star-Lord/Peter Quill) and Pom Klementieff (Mantis) sharing how much the new movie and their experiences were so impactful.

“A lot of Star-Lord has been about running away from his problems and his insecurities; this movie is about him confronting all that. It’ll get you like it did me,” Pratt said, with Klementieff adding, “Mantis has become part of this Guardians family, so saying its the ‘saying goodbye’ part for both the character and this cast family that will be so hard to do.”

Gunn added a level of depth to both Pratt and Klementieff’s responses, saying that the journey of his cast has “mirrored the journey of these characters because in order for them to become this strong family in the end, they needed to go through the hard stuff and find their places in the Guardians family, too.”

And that idea of family that has been more than a decade in the making is what the cast, Gunn, and Marvel Studios is deciding to keep the memory of as the Guardians ride off into whatever sunset in whatever galaxy they are saving.

“I think I was really good at hiring non-jerks over the years with these films, and because of that, it really is a family and made making these films the most pleasant experience ever,” Gunn said. “There’s no end to them and that.”

Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” exclusively hits theaters on May 5.