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Guardians of the Galaxy being more obscure gave Marvel Studios more freedom with their 2014 movie, says Nebula actress

Karen Gillan and the cast of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy feel like they had more latitude in developing their characters because not as many people knew what to expect

News by Joseph Pete, Contributing Writer

Published on Fri Sep 26 2025

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Marvel Studios' 2014 hit Guardians of the Galaxy did not suffer from the same burden of fan expectations like many superhero movies, Nebula actress Karen Gillan believes - allowing actors to be freer to interpret the characters as they wanted without having to be slavish to canon.

"These characters were lesser known than a lot of the other characters, so we had more freedom with them in that respect," Gillen told the crowd at Fan Expo Chicago 2025. That said, someone will always find something to object to, Mantis actress Pom Klementieff pointed out.

"You can't please everyone. There are always going to be some people who are pissed off because you did that. You said that. So be it," she said, adding that perfect comic accuracy is near impossible for any title that's been running long enough.

"Even within the wall of the comic books, your characters are written different ways by different writers. It's constantly changing. It's not set in stone," she argued. "Then it's all about the vision of the director. And also your interpretation. It's a constant conversation. It's boring if it's just supposed to be one thing, you know."

Yondu actor Michael Rooker agreed, saying, "If you look at these comics, one series of comics by a certain artist looks a single way and then they change it. It didn't look that way before."

All three Guardians of the Galaxy films can be viewed on Disney+, for fans who want to track how even one writer/director's vision of the characters changed over time.

Keep up to date on Popverse's Marvel coverage, with these highlights: