Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3's song list is almost set - get your Zunes ready

For Guardians of the Galaxy, music is even more important than for other movies. The good news is that director James Gunn has that (mostly) locked down.

Straight from Gunn himself, a previous report that he had narrowed the list to 181 songs was out of date:

Brace yourself: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 spoilers incoming.

While the first two Guardians movies were very much about Peter Quill’s past, influenced by the soundtrack selected by his mother, Vol. 3‘s selection comes from Yondu.

“Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 have been Meredith’s song choices, her communication to Peter,” he said in a Facebook Live Q&A session. “In Vol. 3, the song choices will be Yondu communicating to Peter.”

The climactic battle of Guardians Vol. 2 ended with both Yondu finally communicating his love to Peter, and also with Yondu’s passing. His first mate (played by James Gunn’s brother Sean Gunn) gave Peter one last gift from the late scavenger – a playlist of tracks selected by Yondu himself. The playlist, notably, was loaded onto this writer’s all-time favorite digital music player, the Microsoft Zune.

Music is an important part of just about any movie, but with Guardians of the Galaxy it plays a crucial role in the story and development of the characters. Most movies are scored after or alongside the filming process, but Guardians would be tough to write without the accompanying playlist. With the music selections mostly locked down, we know Gunn probably has a good idea of the movie’s core themes, at the very least, and maybe even the flow of the story.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is rumored for a 2020 release, but doesn’t yet have a confirmed date yet. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, meanwhile, is available right now.