James Gunn Recalls Almost Killing Chris Pratt While Filming ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

What a journey the Guardians of the Galaxy have been on; from Ronan to Ego to Thanos to Kevin Bacon, we’ve laughed, cried, and jammed along with the greatest band of misfits to ever grace the Marvel Cinematic Universe for nearly a decade, and with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 fast approaching, fans will have to prepare for what will surely be one of the hardest goodbyes in the franchise.

But if James Gunn — complete with his morbid sense of humor — is to be believed, we almost had a very different Guardians reality, and a very different Jurassic World, Lego, and Super Mario reality to boot.

In a recent interview on ComicBook’s Marvel podcast Phase Zero, Gunn and Pratt talked their experiences with bringing the Guardians to life, and when asked what scene he would most want to reshoot, Gunn, unable to hold back his laughter, named a certain outer space scene in the first Guardians movie, which required Pratt to hang suspended in a tub of water, where the actor seemingly came close to drowning.

“We had to shoot in a water tank where people were floating, and he was really sick one day, he had to go underwater, and I thought he was gonna die; that was probably my favorite scene to shoot.”

But Pratt wasn’t going to be outdone in the realm of dark comedy, and added how, at the time, all he could think about was how thankful he was that it was the last day of shooting; “if I die, at least the movie will be done, and people can see it,” the Star-Lord actor remarked, noting how the scene was shot on the last day of filming, meaning he wouldn’t have been recasted if he did meet his demise at that point.

Pratt is alive and well, of course, but we reckon that whoever lands the role of the new DC Universe’s Aquaman will now be sweating quite a bit when the time for filming comes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will release to theaters on May 5.

Photo via Marvel Studios

What a journey the Guardians of the Galaxy have been on; from Ronan to Ego to Thanos to Kevin Bacon, we’ve laughed, cried, and jammed along with the greatest band of misfits to ever grace the Marvel Cinematic Universe for nearly a decade, and with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 fast approaching, fans will have to prepare for what will surely be one of the hardest goodbyes in the franchise.

But if James Gunn — complete with his morbid sense of humor — is to be believed, we almost had a very different Guardians reality, and a very different Jurassic World, Lego, and Super Mario reality to boot.

In a recent interview on ComicBook’s Marvel podcast Phase Zero, Gunn and Pratt talked their experiences with bringing the Guardians to life, and when asked what scene he would most want to reshoot, Gunn, unable to hold back his laughter, named a certain outer space scene in the first Guardians movie, which required Pratt to hang suspended in a tub of water, where the actor seemingly came close to drowning.

“We had to shoot in a water tank where people were floating, and he was really sick one day, he had to go underwater, and I thought he was gonna die; that was probably my favorite scene to shoot.”

But Pratt wasn’t going to be outdone in the realm of dark comedy, and added how, at the time, all he could think about was how thankful he was that it was the last day of shooting; “if I die, at least the movie will be done, and people can see it,” the Star-Lord actor remarked, noting how the scene was shot on the last day of filming, meaning he wouldn’t have been recasted if he did meet his demise at that point.

Pratt is alive and well, of course, but we reckon that whoever lands the role of the new DC Universe’s Aquaman will now be sweating quite a bit when the time for filming comes.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will release to theaters on May 5.