Almost two years after the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy ended, director James Gunn opened up about some of the more shocking reactions the audience had to its characters. The core roster for the Guardians included Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as Groot. Far and away, the most popular character of the first film was the kind-natured Groot, who sacrificed himself to save the rest of the team. Later installments brought back the character’s offspring as a sassier incarnation of the character.
In the backdrop of the first film, Gamora’s adoptive sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) was introduced as a minor antagonist. She later became an antihero in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, before becoming a pivotal player in the fight against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame and a fully-fledged Guardian in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Her redemption arc is one of the strongest in the MCU, going from despised to a fan favorite over 9 years.
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Speaking at a DC Studios press event, Gunn acknowledged how both Nebula and Groot’s popularity seemingly came out of nowhere. As a result, he is bringing that experience to the fledgling DCU. Gunn explained:
It is like any sort of writing exercise where you have a plan, and then you find the magic where you find the magic. It’s the meeting of those two things that comes together where you create something extraordinary, and that’s what we’re focusing on. But what you don’t want to do is…
In Guardians of the Galaxy, did we know that Groot was going to be by far the most popular character when the first movie came out? No way. It was surprising. Not only that, in all of the test screenings and everything, he wasn’t the most popular character because he was, like, a f–king grey stick. All of a sudden, the movie comes out, he’s the most popular character – and you don’t want to leave that alone. He becomes – or his son – a more instrumental character in the other movies. You don’t want to let go of the lightning when it strikes. You want to pay attention to what is really working. And if something isn’t working, then it goes down a little bit.
By the same token, Nebula was one of the least popular characters in the first one. She was the least popular character when we were screening the first Guardians movie. I loved her. I knew she was something special.
Then, by the last Guardians movie, she was the favorite. Or up there with the top three. That’s also important. Sometimes I have a plan, and maybe the public doesn’t see it originally, but I see it. I saw who Nebula was. I knew this character had an extraordinary arc and a change [coming] upon her. I related to that character a great deal, so I wasn’t going to give up on her either. So, it does work both ways.
Gunn’s statement indicates that there’s a balance to be struck between catering to the fans and letting stories reach their absolution. Groot’s runaway popularity led to Baby Groot becoming a big part of the Guardians sequels, while Nebula’s perception by fans had to change over time.
When writing a big budget franchise, the natural tendency would be to cave to audience demands. Gunn had the difficult task of deciding where to cave and where to stick to his writerly intentions. For example, he doubled down on Groot in the sequels, making the cuter Baby Groot incarnation and giving him more focus.
Alternatively, the initial negativity did not deter Gunn from continuing Nebula’s arc in the MCU. Rather, he expanded on Nebula in each subsequent Guardians film and slowly warmed audiences up to her, with the help of the Russo Brothers’ work on Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. By the time she got her triumphant happy ending in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it felt she had earned her smile because the audience watched her grow and change.
Why Groot & Nebula Became So Popular In The MCU
While Groot and Nebula are very different characters both in the MCU and out of it, their stories – and the popularity of them – do have some similarities. Both Groot and Nebula work as comic relief characters, with Groot most obviously leaning into this via the many jokes about the fact the audience can only hear him say his name, even though other characters can understand him. Nebula also often fits into this category, as her blunt nature and serious intensity lead to their own share of comedy moments, and work as a nice contrast with how the Guardians themselves are often characterized.
However, these setups also allow both characters to show they’re more than comic relief, as they have some considerable growth in their respective arcs over the course of the franchise. The original Groot sacrifices himself to protect his team at the end of the original Guardians Of The Galaxy, letting audiences literally see the successor Groot grow from a child to an adult. On the other side of things, Nebula grows from a legitimate villain when she’s first introduced to a hero in her own right, mirroring other popular villain-to-hero stories in the MCU, like that of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki.
As such, while it may have initially seemed surprising that either of these characters would become so beloved by the MCU fanbase, it also makes a lot of sense given Groot and Nebula work both for viewers who are in it for the laughs, and those who want to be emotionally invested in the journeys these characters take. Ultimately, this has set the MCU with a range of characters who audiences are already attached to leaving the question of whether the franchise will use them now Gunn is overseeing the DCU all the more interesting.
Given his history of writing well-received characters—even if some had slow burn arcs—Gunn has a solid handle on how to craft compelling superheroes. His work on the Guardians franchise was memorable and left audiences with some of the most compelling characters in the broader MCU, especially Nebula. If he can recapture the lightning in a bottle that was Guardians of the Galaxy, then Gunn’s DCU would benefit from his unique approach to catering to and subverting audience expectations.