One Of The ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ Was Originally Supposed To Die In Vol. 1
Not all of the key players inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2were originally going to return for a second round. One character that was originally going to bite the dust? Nebula (Karen Gillan), the sadistic adopted daughter of Thanos (Josh Brolin) and stepsister to Gamora (Zoe Saldana).
Writer-directorJames Gunndecided not to kill off a character he’s fond of; he’d like to see aNebula movie. In the end, the altered soldier just barely survived the first movie with only one arm intact.
Gillan toldDigital SpyNebula died in an early draft of theGuardians of the Galaxyscript:
I definitely had a feeling that there was room for the character to expand in the future, but she was originally supposed to die in the first movie, I think I remember in the script. She obviously did not die, then I found out that she was coming back in the second movie and then I found out we got to explore all these amazing things about her past and her relationship with Gamora, her sister, so I was really happy.
Almost three years ago, when Gunn was discussing some of the first film’s deleted scenes, he hinted the character would return with a different attitude in the sequel,calling herand The Collector the “bad guys in the first movie.” ConsideringGuardians of the Galaxyis about redemption, it makes sense why Gunn wouldn’t want to kill off Nebula, who apparently plays a more substantial role in the sequel.
If the character died at the end of Vol .1, it might’ve felt like a missed opportunity. There’s probably more to say about Nebula and Gamora’s relationship. It was well handled in the first film, but it wasn’t a huge focus point. There was even a good, telling scene cut that expanded on their relationship, but maybe it was redundant in the bigger picture and hurt the pacing:
That wasn’t the only scene of Nebula’s cut, either. In the end, we were going to see the former(?) villain walkway after the Guardians saved the day:
Nebula’s was actually my favorite. Nebula’s I really liked a lot because she’s lost her arm and she’s just pissed off and she’s just walking through this field all pissed off with a busted Ravager vehicle behind her. And she’s just pissed off and I loved it.
There’s more for Nebula to do in the world ofGuardians of the Galaxy. I was a fan of character’s design – how she looked and often sounded broken – but wouldn’t have minded learning more about her. The first film perfectly established its heroes. Now that we know who they are, we can maybe get to know some of the side characters, like Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula, a little bit better.
