James Gunn Says Marvel Shot Footage for a Rocket and Groot Short Film, But It Was Cancelled
Before the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie was released, Marvel was lookin to produce four short films that would introduce fans to the Guardians of the Galaxy characters. The characters weren’t really well known at the time, and Marvel was looking to start building some interest with these Marvel One-Shot shorts.
According to Gunn, they actually shot some footage for a short that would’ve focused on Rocket and Groot! But, Gunn and Marvel decided they should just focus on making the movie. Gunn shared on Twitter in response to the news:
"I forgot about this, but this is true. Not only did we plan it, we shot footage for one of the scripts (Rocket & Groot)-part of which was the first shot of Rocket shooting a machine gun on Groot's back that we showed at San Diego Comic Con.”
He went on to reveal that he was going to cast Alan Tudyk in one of the roles in the short film. In the follow-up Tweet, he said:
“There were going to be 4 - Rocket & Groot, Gamora, Drax, & Star-Lord. Only the Rocket & Groot script was fully finished, but it was also completely storyboarded. It was the story of how they met & I still think it’s true in my headcanon. Also I wrote a role for @AlanTudyk in it!
He went on to explain why the shorts never got made:
"We didn't end up doing it because I realized it was ridiculous for me to be writing and directing 4 short films at the same time as I was prepping an enormous world-building movie. The 3 shorts were going to play before the 3 movies coming out before Guardians - which seemed like a good idea to get people to know them since everyone was telling us these unknown characters were going to be 'Marvel's first bomb.'
I think it would have been cool to see what these shorts would offer, but in the end, I’m ultimately happy with how those Guardians films turned out. I think that first film had a big impact on fans and I don’t think that impact would have been the same had the shorts been made.
Gunn then shared that much of the Star-Lord short film ended up being adapted to the beginning of the original film. He said:
The 4th short was going to be Quill’s backstory which is really what’s at the beginning of Guardians now. It was really hard for me to admit it was too much for me & I was sad deciding I couldn’t do them (especially Rocket & Groot). But, you know, maybe someday!
What do you think about this? Would you have liked to see these Guardians of the Galaxy shorts before seeing the first movie? Or, are you happy with how it all worked out in the end?