Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Lets Sean Gunn Step Up In A Big Way

The following article contains mild spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

With "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," we're saying goodbye (or at least a "so long for now") to some old friends. Though we don't know the future of these weird and wonderful characters after the final James Gunn Marvel film, we have seen enough to appreciate every single one of them. That's even more true for the actors who play the roles. 

Sean Gunn — brother to writer/director James Gunn — has played the role of the Xandarian Kraglin Obfonteri since the first "Guardians" film. Kraglin started out as a henchman for Ravager leader Yondu (Michael Rooker), and over the course of appearances in "Guardians Vol. 2," "Infinity War," "Endgame," "Thor: Love and Thunder," and "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special," Kraglin has become a full-fledged member of the Guardians. He's even inherited Yondu's Yaka arrow and the head fin that controls it. His skill with it might not be that great, but he's getting there. 

Not only that, but Sean Gunn did the motion capture for the role of Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper). But wait, there's more! He also voiced the role of young Rocket in the origin story he's getting in the third film. So, you know, just performing three roles in the final film in a beloved part of a franchise. No biggie, right?

You have to give credit to Sean Gunn for making us fall in love with and care about a character that could have been nothing more than a random Ravager. The Ravagers were all fun in one way or another, but Kraglin was just so ... loveable. He has this vulnerability about him, like he cares deeply about what everyone else thinks of him but doesn't want them to know. Sean Gunn has the ability to show us both the fact that Kraglin has been posturing to make himself look cooler and to be important to the team — and the fact that he really has no game. 

Add in the fact that he does mo-cap for Rocket, and it's pretty remarkable. It's so easy to forget that Rocket isn't on the screen before you. Of course, some of that is because he's being rendered so beautifully by the VFX artists, but every movement of Rocket brings something new. This character wears his heart on his sleeve through his posture. No matter what sort of sarcastic remark he's making about packing eyeballs in his butt while traveling, you can clearly see through his movement when he hurts and when he's happy, and even when he's remembering pain. We talk a lot about Andy Serkis, but Sean Gunn is right there with him as far as expression through movement. 

I don't want to say too much about Sean Gunn's work as Baby Rocket in the third film because I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it yet. That said, I put 100 percent of the blame for my running mascara during the screening on Gunn. 

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" will hit theaters on May 5, 2023.