James Gunn has opened up about being worried about the curse that often affects third films, as he prepares to release Guardians of the Galaxy 3 next year.
The '3rd film curse' has been a thing for many years - the first two are all-time classics, but it seems come the third film, producers have run out of ideas and we are left with a dud.
There are many examples here - Superman III, The Expendables 3 and Batman Forever, just to name a few.
But with Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Gunn wants to change things and aims to break the cycle of third installments never really being up to scratch.
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Speaking to Entertaiment Weekly, the director spoke on having his work cut out for him before even making Guardians of the Galaxy 3.
He said: "The amount of good third episodes in a trilogy, I can count them on one hand.
"Basically, there's the 'Before Sunrise' series. 'Lord of the Rings.' Maybe 'Spider-Man.' But there's just not too many good third ones."
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Gunn went on to say that the third film is the 'big one', stating that a lot of truths about the characters will be revealed in the upcoming Marvel film.
He said: "One of the reasons why I came back to [make] this movie was because I felt like I needed to tell Rocket's story.
"I would've been very sad not to complete the trilogy for many reasons, but I just feel very connected to Rocket. I feel like nobody would be able to tell his full story if it wasn't me."
Gunn was full of praise for the popular racoon, describing him as a 'secret protagonist' for the franchise.
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He added: "To me, Rocket has always been the secret protagonist of the 'Guardians' movies. From the beginning, it has been rooted in who he is as a character.
"I think he exemplifies a lot of the traits of all the Guardians. They've had all these traumas, and it brings them together. I just think that his is more extreme than others.
"He was just fine being an animal, and he was transformed into something else he didn't want to be.
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"In Vol. 3, we learn a lot about his past — where he came from, who he is, and what he's been through. It's been a difficult road for the little animal."
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits screens on 5 May, 2023.
Topics: Film and TV, Marvel, James Gunn
Callum Jones