Credit: Marvel StudiosThis Marvel villain’s motivation makes more sense…
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) was a lot to take in. There are still plenty of details that have most certainly gone unnoticed during the first viewing. Who can be blamed, though? Marvel fans were bidding farewell to a team of heroes they have known for almost a decade in a film that was a visual feast of both practical and digital effects. Now, however, fans have a bit more insider information…
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Vol. 3 was a different goodbye than many fans thought. For months leading up to the release of the film, James Gunn and Marvel were teasing the departure of several key figures. Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldaña, and Dave Bautista all spoke about wanting to move on from their respective roles, and the trailers all depicted heartbreaking scenes that seemed to spell disaster for the motley crew.
While casualties were kept to a minimum, it did seem pretty clear that the franchise was coming to an end, albeit a happier one than many people anticipated. The heroes not only won but survived, and the villain, the cruel and heartless High Evolutionary (Chukwuji Iwuji), was brought down on his own ship, and though separate, the heroes rode off into a proverbial sunset.
There was one moment in the film, however, that might have confused fans, which has just been cleared up. During the climactic third act, the High Evolutionary (Iwuji) is willing to sacrifice everything he’s created to bring down Rocket (Bradley Cooper). The ship is damaged, and things are falling apart, but still, he persists. Eventually, even his own people turn on him, initiated by the eerie Recorder Vin (Miriam Shor). The question is, why?
It’s clear that Vin (Shor) has been with him for years, doing his bidding, and enforcing his cruel will, so why did she turn on him when she did? In an interview with The Direct, the actress revealed her motivations and a little more detail about the character. After discussing her thought process on what causes people to follow terrible causes and figures, she elaborated:
“And then inevitably, that moment, right before you fall off that cliff, you realize what’s happening. I mean, we’ve seen it with the leaders throughout history. And currently, you know, I’m kind of fascinated by that moment. And that happens for my character, this moment of like, really understanding the depth of the lunacy that’s happening. So I don’t think she has a plan, right? I think this is like, this is a do or die, literally do or die moment, and she makes the decision.”
Shor clarifies that she doesn’t feel like her character immediately switched sides, that she was still a zealot who believed in what they were doing, and so her actions may not have been to preserve the good in the world of Guardians but rather preserve the work they had created, including the hosts of children in cages below decks. Regardless, her actions bought them time and made a victory for the heroes possible in the end.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently in theaters and stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Vin Diesel as Groot, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. The last entry into the Guardians franchise finds the team rallying to protect Rocket (Cooper) on their most perilous mission yet.
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