Guardians of the Galaxy, the only song that James Gunn couldn't include: it's from the 80s and is inspired by Apocalypse Now

This small lack, however, has not stopped the Marvel films from having a truly remarkable musical selection.

Image Credit: Marvel Studios

Thinking about the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is impossible without examining four elements in particular: a captivating assortment of characters, humor that defies Disney standards, a gigantic heart, and a chef's kiss selection of music. Peter Quill's (Chris Pratt) Walkman – and later the Zune – has brought us much joy over the past 9 years, but James Gunn had to leave a few songs in the works. The director's choices to feed the soundtrack of his three feature films on the superheroes of the Marvel Universe, far from being linked exclusively to his personal preferences, are closely linked to the narrative and the situation of the characters at the moment in which they appear. A fact that forced Gunn to take great care of Star-Lord's playlists.

But giving shape to a collection like this is not at all simple. Many titles were omitted from the three films, such as Nick Lowe's Cruel to be Kind because they didn't find the right scene, while others ended up lost in the rights battles that are usually commonplace. Good old James has always managed to get by thanks to his insistence - and, probably, to the machines that move the great Mickey Mouse House -, but there is one issue that has become a thorn in the director's side, the only song that failed to bring to the big screen along with his dysfunctional family of antiheroes: Russian Roulette from the Lords of the New Church.

“Through three films I have managed to include every song I wrote in a screenplay, sometimes after struggling and struggling to get the rights. However, for the first time, in Vol. 3 we couldn't get them to a song I wanted because I was involved in legal battles. The song is Russian Roulette by Lords of the New Church.” The song, released in 1982 on the album The Lords of the New Church, is inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's film Apocalypse Now, and its lyrics begin with a reference to a Vietnam soldier who flies aboard a helicopter only to discover that the passenger is just an actor.