In the comics, Thanos’ adopted daughter lived up to her reputation as’ the most dangerous woman in the galaxy ‘, an elite warrior who was unafraid of sacrifice and with unusual sexual confidence.
On the big screen, his story has been very different. From ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and its sequel to ‘Avengers: Endgame’, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) managed to reduce one of Marvel’s most fascinating characters into one of the most hackneyed cliches: a woman defined by her relationships with the men around her .
Don’t get us wrong: Zoe Saldana’s version of this assassin has been very solid for much of the story and we’ve enjoyed seeing her as one of the most headstrong leaders of the motley cosmic team. But fans of the comic book Gamora deserve more than seeing her being used to evolve the stories of her lover (Peter Quill) and her father (Thanos) .
And while ‘Avengers: Endgame’ brought her back after all the debacle, she was not the Gamora who has been with us all these years , but a version from 2014 that has yet to form a relationship again with the rest of the team . In the last scenes of the film, he quietly disappears after the great battle, serving as an emotional destabilizing tool for poor Quill.
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It’s no wonder that Marvel’s screenwriters have once again been accused of ‘ chilling ‘ the character by ignoring his narrative without any consequence. By not allowing the Gamora we knew to go back into history – one of the few superheroines of color played by one of the few actresses of color in the MCU – it was as if they were saying they had no qualms about throwing her story away , one that has accumulated over several movies.
With ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ moving forward with James Gunn at the helm, the fear is that because he has to rebuild his relationship with the team, his bow will be there again to serve someone else’s story , be it for Quill, the newly appointed Thor or Adam Warlock (if he ever decides to appear) .
On the other side of the coin, if Gunn plays his cards right, this could be just what Saldana’s version of the character needs if he’s ever to live up to his version on paper. What fans don’t want to see is another story where Quill flirts with Gamora and Gamora takes her time to become an integral part of the Guardians; that already happened and that’s it.
No, instead (we hope, oops) it could be that ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ gives you the opportunity to demonstrate the incredible assassin that she is , one that develops in her own space to become her own character, with a completely arc formed.
