Who knew co-starring in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 could be a bad thing? The enormous multinational Microsoft wasn’t thrilled about their part in the latest Marvel Studios blockbuster and they said as much when they saw a certain shoutout nestled into the movie’s framework.
SCARY SPOILY SPOILER TYPE STUFF LURKS BENEATH!
Peter Quill’s Awesome Mix Vol. 2 gets a considerable workout in the sci-fi action-adventure and that sets the table for Quill to switch from cassettes to another outdated bit of technology. That’s where the movie’s Zune gag kicks in and Microsoft wasn’t laughing when their infamous flop was used as a punchline. Guardians writer-director James Gunn revealed this tidbit during a recent Facebook Q&A. ComicBook reports that Gunn told the FB audience that he actually reached out to Microsoft about putting the mighty Zune into his movie. Clearly a sore subject, the company was said to be hurt that they used their music player in a negative light.
Gunn makes the reasonable point that the Zune reference wasn’t designed to serve as a mean-spirited dig. According to Gunn, the Zune has a special place in the motion picture because of what comes next.
“Peter Quill almost ignores Baby Groot throughout the entire movie. This is important,” Gunn said. “I think that Peter Quill is, in many ways, a complete absent father to this son that they have onboard. I think Baby Groot’s situation is the opposite of mine. I had six kids in my family and two parents. Baby Groot is one kid with many parents. And so, I think at the end of the film, Peter Quill gets this Zune from Yondu, and he sits down to play it. And he’s going to have a self-reflective moment for himself — like he did at the end of the first movie with his mother.
The first movie is about mothers. The second movie is about fathers. And as he starts to listen to the music. Instead of it being a moment that is selfish, Baby Groot crawls into his lap, and as we see Peter Quill looking down at Baby Groot, we see a father’s love for his son. And it is a very unselfish moment on the part of Peter Quill. A moment that was completely about him and his relationship to his father, now becomes about his son and passing it on to the next generation and being a part of that. And that’s why that moment is so important to me in the movie, and why it is so important to the development of Peter Quill.”
This probably isn’t enough to get you to go Zune hunting in the yard sale and pawn shop arena, but when Gunn puts it this way, it really does make Microsoft’s MP3 player punching bag seem more special than it did when it was still active. This might be a good time to start reaching out to Tiger Electronics to put HitClips in Guardians 3.
(Via ComicBook)
