The last few weeks have provided plenty of answers for some of our most burning Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 questions. But as excited as we are for the upcoming Marvel sequel, we still have plenty of questions about the original Guardians of the Galaxy that have gone unanswered for quite some time. One of the most confusing scenes in the entire film occurs when Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) takes off his helmet and gives it to Gamora (Zoe Saldana) in the vacuum just outside of Knowhere. Shouldn't that kill him? According to James Gunn: not quite. Gunn elaborated in a Facebook post:
-How did he stay alive without a mask when he saved Gamora out in space?Gunn: He blew all the air out of his lungs. You can stay alive in outer space for a short while if you don't have air in your lungs. The scene is in slow motion, so it's longer than it seems. AND Rocket clearly says there's some atmosphere outside of Knowhere - just because there's no gravity doesn't mean there's zero atmosphere.-Haha that's not science.Gunn: It is science.-People EXPLODE when they're out in space without a space mask.Gunn: No, they don't. That's a myth.-I saw it in a documentary called Total Recall.Gunn: That's not a documentary.
That should clear things up, right? James Gunn recently posted the above "Frequently Asked Questions" exchange to his Facebook profile to clear up any misconceptions we might have about Peter Quill's survival outside of Knowhere. As the director points out, Quill released the air from his lungs to buy himself some time in the vacuum, and the scene itself was shown in slow-motion, making it look like he survived for longer than he did. Gunn also reminds audiences that SOME atmosphere exists outside of Knowhere's gravitational pull -- it's even mentioned in the film -- which makes his survival even more plausible.
For a quick refresher, here's the scene:
It's worth noting that James Gunn's not wrong in his assessment of how scientifically sound this scene is. Over the years many scientists have discredited the idea that a human will die instantly if exposed to a vacuum. It's one of the reasons why Matt Damon's character in The Martian (a movie widely considered to be a very accurate depiction of space) could poke a hole in his suit and "Iron Man" his way to his rescue ship. We really shouldn't go around spouting moments from Total Recall as real science.
There you have it; a question that has persisted for almost three years has finally been put to rest, but we're sure more will come up in the future. We will keep you up to date with any and all information related to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as more details become available to us. James Gunn's rag tag group of cosmic misfits will return on May 5, 2017.
