Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3's Karen Gillan Teases An Emotional Conclusion To The Trilogy

So far, the 2/3 of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise fans have seen has done some heavy lifting for Marvel's cinematic success. Individually, each film has beat out blockbusters like "Captain America: Winter Soldier" and even the recently debuted "Thor: Love and Thunder" (according to Box Office Mojo). And when you combine their numbers, they could hypothetically inch out "Black Panther" for the #3 spot by a cool $22 million. To say that hype for this movie is strong would be the understatement of the decade. Conversely, fans know very little about what's in store for the upcoming Spring 2023 release.

So far, this film has been one of Marvel's best-kept secrets — so much so that even the recently debuted San Diego Comic-Con movie trailer is still not available for plebeian fans who weren't able to attend the exclusive event. Director James Gunn says it's because it was a bit rushed and the special effects weren't up to snuff. Given how critical Marvel fans can be (especially of productions like "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," which aren't exactly using the most advanced special effects), his desire to hold his cards close to his chest is totally understandable. But some of the actors are chomping at the bit to discuss what their experience on set has been like so far. One of them recently gushed to a major news outlet about how emotionally impactful the movie will be.

Gillian, who plays Nebula in the films (and who is also pretty famous for appearing on a little BBC show called "Doctor Who"), recently dropped some major hints to The Hollywood Reporter about what fans can expect ten months from now. "It was emotional making it, for sure...there are scenes where the emotion is heavier than it's ever been in the Guardians world. It was hard to get through some of it." She also elaborated that just being on set made the third film feel more epic than the other two. Not only are the characters in the story dealing with a lot of complexity and difficult emotions, but the cast and crew had their own to process, too. Everyone on set knew that they were "dealing with the fact that this is the end of an era of sorts," making their work that much more bittersweet.

But Gillian isn't the only cast member that THR talked to recently. Pom Klementieff (who plays Mantis) was gushing about how cute Baby Rocket looked in the SDCC trailer, and also took a minute to reminisce on how it felt to shoot the final scene. She confessed that it was "shot at the end of the shoot, and it was really hard to not weep." Given how emotionally potent some of her scenes have been throughout the first two films — especially her raw, tender moments with Drax (Dave Bautista) — it might be wise for movie theaters to hand out complimentary packets of Kleenex next to the entrances to the screening rooms. That, or moviegoers can sneak in their own boxes of tissues in their extra-large purse with their canned sodas and dollar store boxed candy.