Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Almost Ended Differently

Contains major spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
You probably didn't expect that you'd need a hanky going into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and if director James Gunn had stuck with the initial plan, it might not have been necessary. Seriously, this story is filled with spoilers, so if you haven't seen the movie, stop now.

The movie reaches its climax when Yondu (Michael Rooker) coming to the painful realization that he must sacrifice himself to save the universe, and to redeem himself to Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and his old Ravager pals. By doing that, he helps to defeat Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell), and prompts Star-Lord to finally understand that although Yondu wasn't his biological father, he was his real dad. The film ends with an unexpectedly beautiful space funeral for Yondu, and a teary-eyed Rocket (Bradley Cooper).

But Gunn revealed to Uproxx that he didn't want it to go down that way. "I didn't want that to be the ending, and I kind of refused to put that in as the ending for a long time. It wasn't how the movie ended," he said. "But, at the end of the day, I knew that's where it needed to go. I knew that we need to have real stakes in these movies. We need to lose characters. And not everyone who sees Marvel movies loves that."

Of course, the choice does make sense. If someone absolutely had to die, it couldn't have been one of the Guardians. Not only would it have been incredibly traumatic for young viewers, but the team are still scheduled to show up in Avengers: Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Still, Rooker (who has got to be used to seeing his characters killed off by now) said he's happy with Yondu's fate.

"The hero of the movie ends up being remembered," he said. "And the hero of the movie ends up being, well, you're the hero of the movie! You know, they've done something! They've given up something that most of us would not even come close to having the balls to give up in real life, and in the movies as well."

Does that mean it's the last we've seen of Yondu? Rooker has been teasing that he's shooting scenes for Infinity War, and it's possible that he'll appear in a flashback of some kind. Or maybe he would get the ultimate last laugh by somehow finding a way to cheat death. You never know with Yondu.

While we wait to find out, check out things you missed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and the movie's ending explained.