James Gunn recently posted on Facebook about the female characters he created for his films, including Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
He wrote: “Women all over the world have been pushed to the sidelines in the interests of men, and their person hood is often forgotten or delegitimized. This is true in the realms of politics and education and religion. But it is also true in the realm of STORIES. That is my personal area of expertise, and that is where I believe women – and girls – deserve the fullness of character that men have often received. I have done my best, as a male writer, with varying degrees of success, to bring female characters and female stories to the forefront. Whether they’re protagonists like Ana in Dawn of the Dead or Starla in Slither, comedy relief like Deadly Girl, Nightbird, and Power Chick in The Specials, or the insane, scene-stealing roles usually reserved for men, like Libby in SUPER. And I can’t wait for you all to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with Gamora, Nebula, and Mantis in action, where we not only pass the Bechdel test, but run over it and back up over it again and again in an eighteen-wheeler truck, and where their stories and the men’s stories don’t come at the expense of each other, but are interwoven in a way to strengthen and optimize all of them.”
The film also stars Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan and Kurt Russell. The film arrives in theaters May 5, 2017.