Writer and director James Gunn explains how Yondu influences Star-Lord’s new “Awesome Mix” and, in turn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s soundtrack. Before being abducted by Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker) and the Ravagers in Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord was gifted two mix tapes by his mother, Meredith Quill on her deathbed. Both the first film and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s (a title inspired by Peter’s latest Awesome Mix) jukebox-worthy soundtracks correlated with their respective mix of tunes from the ‘70s Star-Lord played on his Sony Walkman.
Following Yondu’s heart-breaking sacrifice at the end of Vol. 2, Kraglin gives Peter a Microsoft Zune MP3 player as a gift from his late surrogate father. In addition to making the audience laugh with its dated technology, the moment further drew parallels between Yondu and Peter and the latter and his mom—who similarly gave him the gift of music at the end of her life. While the first two films’ soundtracks represented the mixes complied by Meredith Quill, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will come from Yondu’s Zune.
Gunn recently took to Twitter to clear up some confusion regarding the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtracks. When asked if a master mix would be released after Vol. 3 hits theaters, Gunn explained that Meredith Quill’s Complete Awesome Mix is already available on Spotify. Given that Meredith didn’t pick the songs on Peter’s Zune, that complete mix will remain separate from Vol. 3’s soundtrack. Check out the exchange with fans below:
No, they’ll never be on this list because Meredith didn’t pick the songs on the Zune, so they’re different from the songs in Vol 1 and 2 (although Yondu may or may not have deleted songs he didn’t like off of it). https://t.co/TLrGA3BB0e
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) August 26, 2022
