James Gunn has confirmed that Marvel Studios only managed to secure the rights to use Ego the Living Planet just weeks before filming on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2was scheduled to begin. Gunn, who is currently working on the third film in the Guardians series, wowed audiences with his take on the obscure team of intergalactic misfits when the first film was released in 2014. Raking in $773.3 million at the worldwide box office and garnering rave reviews, the second film was announced even before the first had made its theatrical debut due to the positive response to internal screenings at Disney.

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In addition to introducing audiences to a new member of the Guardians in the form of Pom Klementieff’s Mantis, Gunn’s second film would also delve into Peter Quill’s backstory and reveal the secret of his heritage and exactly how he was able to withstand holding an Infinity Stone in the first film’s finale. Deviating from his origins in the comics, where he is portrayed as the son of J’Son of Spartax, Gunn would instead reveal that Quill’s Star-Lord was the son of the Celestial Ego. Played by screen veteran Kurt Russell, the film would later reveal Ego as the chief antagonist who planned to use Quill to assist him in his plans to terraform the worlds of the galaxy into extensions of himself.

Most recently Gunn took to Twitter to confirm earlier rumors that Gunn’s plans to use Ego were almost thwarted by the fact the Marvel Studios did not actually own the rights to use the character at the time. Instead, Gunn reveals, the character was owned by 20th Century Fox and it was only through a last-minute deal from Marvel offering Fox the rights to use Negasonic Teenage Warhead in 2016’s Deadpool that Gunn was able to proceed with his plans. Revealing that Gunn was originally told “[Marvel] owned the character,” he also suggested that he didn’t have any other contingency plan because at the time “he had no idea the rights were an issue” and was only informed after the deal was made. Check out his original Tweets below:

Ever since its inception in 2007, rights issues have been a constant bugbear for the ever-evolving Marvel Cinematic Universe. Long before the MCU ever changed the face of the modern-superhero film with 2008’s Iron Man, studios like 20th Century Fox and Sony had acquired the rights to some of Marvel’s best-known characters including The X-Men, The Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man. Ever since, the MCU has been playing a delicate game of negotiations and inter-studio deals to allow them to reunite characters under a single banner. While the rights to Fox’s Marvel characters have now officially reverted to Marvel Studios’ control thanks to Disney’s merger with the studio in 2019, Sony is still holding tightly on their collection of some 900 Spider-Man-related characters.

Thankfully things managed to work out for Gunn and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and it would seem the deal which was struck was only a short-term measure as the MCU now has complete access to use not only Negasonic Teenage Warhead, but also Deadpool and the X-Men. One can only imagine what route Gunn would have been forced to take had he not been able to use Ego’s character, and the ripple effect it would have had on the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As not only did Ego’s appearance explain Star-Lord’s MCU origins, but it would also serve to further lay the groundwork for the use of the Celestials in this year’s Eternals.

Source: James Gunn

Key Release Dates
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  • Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)Release date: Dec 17, 2021
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
  • The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
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TC Phillips
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TC Phillips is a scribbler, mess maker, and storyteller by nature. He is also a publisher and an author of his own special brand of warped fiction, and he revels in delving headfirst into all things strange, bizarre, and fantastical. A self-proclaimed nerd of the highest order, the vibrational energy generated by his constant state of fanboy excitement should probably be harnessed to power a small city. When his pancreas is not screaming under the pressure of his dietary habits, he is constantly befuddled by his three children and amazed that his long-suffering wife has not yet taken it upon herself to murder him in his sleep. He Tweets at @T_C_Phillips

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