Guardians of the Galaxy Kurt Russell is Ego the Living Planet

[Drizzle]

Apparently it was mostly makeup work, with CGI being used just to tweak the final look. Which to me seems even more impressive.

http://www.gamesradar.com/the-young...-galaxy-2-was-90-makeup-heres-how-they-did-it

Whoa. I guess it also helps that Russell looks younger than he actually is too.

 

[The Infernal]

Just had a thought about Ego the Living Planet for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and not sure if it has been thought of or mentioned before. In Guardians of the Galaxy we have the head of a Celestial called Knowhere that has been colonized inside of it. So, it is basically an empty shell, and then in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 we have Ego referring to himself as a Celestial a couple of times. So, is it possible that Ego is the brain that came from the Celestial that became Know where? Just a thought.

Surfer

Essentially what I was wondering in my post. Though it's also possible that Knowhere wasn't just a cast off from Ego himself, but a hint that this was the general direction Gunn was planning for Ego.

 

[Mr.T]

Yes I've noticed that and it honeslty baffles me.

There are so many gaps in logic when it comes to Ego plans and character, the final conflict is purely for survival, and the movie spends over an hour dragging out things between him and his son even though it's instantly obvious he is the villain. He was undoubtably the low point of a film that was otherwise quite good.

I liked Ego overall, but I kind of agree with this. His only motivation was survival? The purpose of spreading himself on planets across the universe and killing living beings was for what? He already cried about feeling alone, yet he saw mortal life as despicable?

 

[MilkmanDan]

I liked Ego overall, but I kind of agree with this. His only motivation was survival? The purpose of spreading himself on planets across the universe and killing living beings was for what? He already cried about feeling alone, yet he saw mortal life as despicable?

He originally felt alone. But he also said he found life disappointing once he found it. I though he was trying to replace the inferior mortal life with his own perfection. Of course, the movie left it somewhat vague which I didn't mind. That shot of Ego as a planet with a face was not only a cool nod to the comics but also a reminder that he/it is not human. Our reasoning might not apply to what is essentially a cosmic monster.

 

[MilkmanDan]

Well this year should definitely change that. Russell as Ego is a good start, next we get Keaton as Vulture...I never liked Vulture but Keaton can nail a part. We end the MCU year with Blanchett, Goldblum, and possibly other greats.

I hope you're right. But as terry78 mentioned, all the villains so far have also been cast really well. The actors playing them has never been the problem.

 

[NealKenneth]

His only motivation was survival? The purpose of spreading himself on planets across the universe and killing living beings was for what? He already cried about feeling alone, yet he saw mortal life as despicable?

By "survival" I was actually referring to Quill, not Ego. His only motivation at the end of the film is to survive (and save the universe I guess), which isn't all the interesting to me. In Age of Ultron, for example, they aren't just trying to save the world, they are also trying to save every single person they can in order to prove Ultron wrong. In Civil War, Black Panther defeats Zemo by forcing him to survive and face justice. These are interesting conflicts because the threat of the villain is beyond just existensial.

 

[The Caped Knight]

[blackout]Ego gets The Vader appeal as The Big Bad Daddy who wants his son to join him.[/blackout]

 

[FlareKnight]

By "survival" I was actually referring to Quill, not Ego. His only motivation at the end of the film is to survive (and save the universe I guess), which isn't all the interesting to me. In Age of Ultron, for example, they aren't just trying to save the world, they are also trying to save every single person they can in order to prove Ultron wrong. In Civil War, Black Panther defeats Zemo by forcing him to survive and face justice. These are interesting conflicts because the threat of the villain is beyond just existensial.

I don't really agree with that. By opposing Ego, Quill was choosing the opposite of survival. If he went along with it and cooperated willingly he'd be immortal. He'd have power to do whatever he really wanted and live forever. By fighting he was choosing mortality which isn't really fighting for survival at all.

Plus...what is even wrong with survival? A big part of the movie is the bonds of family. What's minor or uninteresting about people fighting to protect their family?

And it's not like this was simply a fight for everyone to survive.

Spoiler

This was revenge. Ego murdered Peter's mother. He technically murdered Peter's siblings from various women across the galaxy. And he smashed Peter's walkman. That thing was full of emotional value.

There were several layers for this fight just on Peter's side of it. Never minding the motivations for characters like Yondu or Mantis.

 

[NealKenneth]

Plus...what is even wrong with survival? A big part of the movie is the bonds of family. What's minor or uninteresting about people fighting to protect their family?

There's nothing "wrong" with it, there's just very little depth to it because there's no conflict.

The only thing Ego has to tempt Peter with is immortality and it's thrown in at the last second (probably because someone working on the film realized there was not enough happening in the fight.) But was anyone in there seats thinking "Hmm I wonder if Peter will let everyone in the universe die, including his friends, to be immortal and spend enternity with the guy who killed his mom?" That's what I mean by no conflict.

There is a revenge aspect to it...but again there is little depth. What made Black Panther's revenge so interesting is that it festered for a long time and yet he learned from the other characters and did not submit to it. Peter just gave into it instantly. Then whatever emotional weight was added to the conflict was later destroyed for a throwaway joke about his walkman. Yikes!

There needs to be reasonable temptations for the protagonist for the conflict to have depth. Empire Strikes Back is a fair comparison because of a boatload of similarities.

By the time Luke has his hand cut off, we see that Vader is fully willing to let the Rebels go once they serve their purpose (Leia, the droids, and Chewbacca.) Vader wants to end the war and bring order to the galaxy, which the Rebels also want. He wants to destroy the Emporer, which the Rebels also want. On top of that, he threatens Luke's life. So it's very reasonable to wonder if Luke may actually give in and join him. His immediate reaction is to give into fear and flee, but the conflict has such depth that even after the films ends, it's still reasonable to wonder if Luke is still thinking about working with Vader. Wow!

Again, there's nothing "wrong" with it simply being a fight for survival, it's simply not that interesting (especially in the context of a film series where this has been the main conflict like ten times so far) and it's part of the reason Ego is not a very good villain.

 

[Surfer]

Essentially what I was wondering in my post. Though it's also possible that Knowhere wasn't just a cast off from Ego himself, but a hint that this was the general direction Gunn was planning for Ego.

Yeah, if Knowhere was foreshadowing for Ego then James Gunn did it Brilliantly, and I think the idea of Ego the Living Planet coming from a Destroyed Celestial is Genius and gives some logic to how Ego the Living Planet came into existence for the MCU. Someone needs to ask Gunn if this was his intent because it definitely feels like an Easter egg.

Surfer

 

[Consona]

Ego was like the hugest missed opportunity next to Kaecilius. Such a great potential yet again so under-developed.
I utterly loved the philosophical bases of Kaecilius and Ego but the writers just scratched the surface of what could have been awesome beyond words.

 

[JtheDreamer]

There is a revenge aspect to it...but again there is little depth. What made Black Panther's revenge so interesting is that it festered for a long time and yet he learned from the other characters and did not submit to it. Peter just gave into it instantly. Then whatever emotional weight was added to the conflict was later destroyed for a throwaway joke about his walkman. Yikes!

That's the problem with James Gunn as a writer. He should stay in his lane as just a director.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

That's the problem with James Gunn as a writer. He should stay in his lane as just a director.

Except Gunn's dialogue is a big part of the appeal of these films.

 

[NealKenneth]

What I don't understand is why Nicole Perlman wasn't brought back to write the sequel.

 

[First Avenger]

I think Gunn made a fantastic job in both writing and directing these two movies.

 

[JtheDreamer]

Except Gunn's dialogue is a big part of the appeal of these films.

He's dangerously close to the low hanging fruit syndrome ala Michael Bay - with the *****ebag, a-hole, Drax turds, sex, and Ego penis jokes.

It may appeal to you, but it's still juvenile, lower common denominator kind of stuff. Almost a foul-mouthed Saturday morning cartoon. There are plenty of better writers out there than James Gunn who could elevate the material and make it more focused.

He sometimes makes me feel like Peter during his checkup on Family Guy - just beating me over the head with schtick.

[YT]-bFNYu7VKpk[/YT]

 

[JtheDreamer]

What I don't understand is why Nicole Perlman wasn't brought back to write the sequel.

Because James Gunn wants total control of the franchise (outside of anyone name Feige).

 

[Mike Murdock]

There were some odd credit fights after the movie came out with Gunn saying that Perlman didn't really contribute much and the WGA ruling that she had to receive credit (I know the music was Gunn's idea and my guess is much of the humor is his as well). It seemed likely, with the death of the writers room and Perlman moving to Captain Marvel, that she wouldn't be involved in the sequel.

 

[Loki882]

So here's my question:

Spoiler

Why did he need to kill Meredith Quill? I get most of the rest of his plan, but the movie didn't do all that good a job of explaining this part imo.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

Spoiler

I assumed it was the only way he thought he could get the kid alone

 

[Loki882]

Spoiler

Why? There's like a hundred other ways to do that? Or just bring her along with them, she already thought that he was an "angel." It's not like she was aware of his true plan, he could have just said that he wanted to help Peter develop/control his special powers. And if need be, he could have disposed of her later on even.

Again it wouldn't be an issue for me if they'd just explained it. But the weird thing is, they made it seem like he was going to explain it, but then they just had Peter shoot him first and then dropped it. It honestly felt like a bit of a writing contrivance because Gunn needed a reason for Quill to turn on Ego and he didn't put much thought into it beyond that.

 

[terry78]

Well, Gunn is answering questions on Facebook, so you could always see what his response is. Someone asked him why he felt the need to even tell Peter and he says

Spoiler

it's because he's practically a godlike being and while he tries to relate, he felt that Peter was at that point on his level of being a deity and that it wouldn't matter to him anymore as he should be above that.

 

[JtheDreamer]

So here's my question:

Spoiler

Why did he need to kill Meredith Quill? I get most of the rest of his plan, but the movie didn't do all that good a job of explaining this part imo.

I thought he made it clear that .....

Spoiler

the only way to keep himself from abandoning his planet and giving up his power/immortality would be to give her cancer. That way if she died, he would be forced to go back.

 

[metaphysician]

Spoiler

Its more that, if he didn't decide that His Purpose Was More Important, *and take a decisive action to affirm such to himself*? He was going to abandon his Purpose in the name of love. He could take Meredith to his planet, or keep commuting, and this wouldn't solve the problem. He'd still be a god who used to exist to Take Over The Universe, and who now existed for. . . love of a mortal, for a while. And then when she eventually did die, he'd be devastated, and even if he did get over it, he'd still not be the same god he once was. He'd be purposeless, and if that didn't result in functional or actual death, it'd still force him to find a new purpose all over again, and as a fundamentally changed being from what he was the first time around.