The music in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is 70’s awesome, and we loved hearing how Director James Gunn and Director Kevin Feige chose the songs for this movie!
photo: Louise Bishop/Mom Start
The press day for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 movie in Los Angeles was so surreal. It was so great to be able to interview Director James Gunn and Producer and President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige! You may have heard these two names a time or two before, James Gunn is responsible for the direction of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie and knows a thing or two about choosing the music for the 2nd film! Kevin Feige has produced lots of Marvel projects, including The Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Ant-Man, and more.
As you probably know, music is an integral part of this movie. Peter Quill’s character has a love for 70’s music, in which his late mother gifted him before she passed away. He listens to it throughout the movie, and his love for music has carried through to Vol. 2 (really love the soundtrack, BTW)! Here’s what Gunn and Feige said about choosing the music in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
Director James Gunn and Producer Kevin Feige Talk Music In Guardians of the Galaxy 2
We asked James Gunn how he decides what music to put in the movie and at what scenes. “I have a list of about 500 songs, which I think of as Guardians-type songs that Meredith Quill might really love. When I’m going through and I’m writing the script, I put the songs into the script where they seem to fit. Sometimes I don’t have a song that seems right on that list, and so I have to go out and search, and listen to a bunch of stuff, and see what I like. Eventually it’s all basically baked into the organic story of what’s happening in a movie, in the same way you put sugar in a cake.” Gunn definitely knows his 70’s music!
photo: Louise Bishop/Mom Start
Producer Kevin Feige says that when writers add songs into their scripts, it doesn’t normally work that way. For some reason, the music in Guardians of the galaxy 2 did! “What’s so amazing, a lot of screenwriters put song suggestions into their scripts, and almost none of those songs end up in the actual movie. When James did that, I think even maybe on an outline in the first movie, and certainly in an outline on the second movie, it was like, “Oh, that’s cute. He thinks these songs are gonna be in the movie.” Every single song made the movie.”
EVERY. SONG. That is awesome, Gunn really has a great ear for music! Feige says that for the second film, he knew better. He listened to the songs as he ready the outline and later in the script. The very first time that they screened the film, they wrote all of the songs into the movie and hoped for the best. Gunn says “all of a sudden, one of the first comments was, “The music is great.” I remember [Feige] going, “Oh. Thank God, thank God!”
photo: Louise Bishop/Mom Start
Gunn also says that he gets tons of tweets on Twitter from fans suggesting music and asking if he’ll include certain songs in the next movie. Oh, and fun fact: The song “Wham Bam Shang-a-lang” on the Vol. 2 soundtrack came from a suggestion on Twitter, and it actually made the movie! Also, Feige says the Guardians of the Galaxy theme park ride opening at Disney’s California Adventure features songs from the movie that James Gunn suggested!
Watch the movie and get your groove on with the Guardians of the Galaxy 2 soundtrack!
We truly appreciate the chance to be able to be in the interview room with these two amazing movie makers! Check out the work of James Gunn and Kevin Feige in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, now playing in theaters everywhere! Also, if you love the music in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, use my affiliate link to grab the soundtrack here.
More from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2…
Chris Pratt as Star Lord
Zoe Saldana Gamora interview
Dave Bautista is Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 premiere photos
New characters Mantis, Ayesha, and the return of Nebula
Top 10 Guardians of the Galaxy 2 merchandise items
Kurt Russell plays Ego, Peter Quill’s father
James Gunn and Kevin Feige: Music in Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Michael Rooker & Sean Gunn return as Ravagers Yondu and Kraglin
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I attended a press trip courtesy of Disney. Travel, lodging and other logistics are provided, opinions are those of Honey + Lime.