Admittedly, when I saw the first Guardians of the Galaxy trailer back in 2014, I thought, well, Marvel is going to have their first bomb. Of course, I’m eating crow now, because if I rank the Marvel Movies, the GotG is at the very top of the list of best superhero movies of all time. And, if you’ve ever found yourself belting out "Come and Get Your Love" in the car like me, you know where I’m coming from. But, in a new revelation, writer-director James Gunn shares some truly horrible studio advice he received while putting the iconic film together.
The Marvel-turned-DC director recently took to his Threads account to answer fan questions, like he often does. And, when one asked, “What’s the worst note you ever got?”, Gunn didn’t hesitate:
I was told no one would like the Guardians soundtrack and I should change it to Britney Spears like 90's songs. I don't know if it's the worst but it's the one I remember the most!
Yes, seriously—someone actually suggested swapping Blue Swede for "Oops!... I Did It Again." Today, the Superman director is known for his masterful needle drops, with Guardians of the Galaxy delivering some of the most memorable music moments in the MCU. It’s hard to imagine what the film would’ve felt like if he’d taken that note. Thankfully, we don’t live in the timeline where the unhappy Marvel executives overruled him and forced a ‘90s pop playlist. Instead, we got the Awesome Mix soundtracks—and they’re now iconic.
The top brass completely missed what made Guardians of the Galaxy such a game-changer. Gunn's decision to make Peter Quill’s mixtape a character of its own wasn’t just nostalgic window dressing, but an emotional scaffolding. The music helps tell Quill’s story and grounds his cosmic adventures in deeply human experiences, the loss of his mother and his former earthly life. And let’s be honest, that choice made the movie not only fun as hell but unique within the landscape of new superhero movies.
Thankfully, the Missouri-born filmmaker stuck to his instincts. That “no one will like the soundtrack” note aged like unrefrigerated milk. Awesome Mix Vol. 1 went platinum and topped the Billboard 200. People who didn’t know who the hell the Guardians were before 2014 now have "Hooked on a Feeling" play on repeat whenever they think of Quill, Gamora or Rocket.
Funny enough, when James Gunn revealed his Vol. 3 Mixtape playlist, there were plenty of '80s and '90s hits that made the cut. While we didn’t get any Brittney Spears, we fans were treated to the likes of “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” by the Beastie Boys and the iconic “Dog Days Are Over” from Florence + The Machine.
So what's the moral of the story? It's trust your weird ideas and ignore bad notes, at least when you’re the brilliant mind behind cult classics as Super and Slither. Fans can revisit all of the best music drops in Gunn’s GotG trilogy with their Disney+ subscription.
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