Why Karen Gillan Thinks Nebula Is More ‘Evolved’ In Guardians Of The Galaxy 3

Nebula is one of the most interesting “Guardians of the Galaxy” characters. She grew up being forced by her adoptive father, Thanos, to battle her own sister Gamora — herself an erstwhile member of the Guardians who is resurrected for “Vol. 3” using some deus ex machina plot device. As she puts it in the first “Guardians” movie:

“As a child, my father would have Gamora and me battle one another in training. Every time my sister prevailed, my father would replace a piece of me with machinery. But she won again and again, never once refraining.”

It’s a pretty grim origin, but not one that defines her story, as she eventually finds the family she’s looking for in the Guardians and reconciles with Gamora in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” Then, while helping the Avengers take down Thanos in “Avengers: Endgame,” she can be seen killing an alternate timeline version of her old self, symbolically completing her transformation from unfeeling assassin to compassionate hero. Oh, and she even got Rocket a pretty special Christmas present in “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.”

Now, with the existing Gamora in “Vol. 3” being an older version of herself from a different timeline, Nebula is arguably the more emotionally evolved of the two sisters. All of which moved Karen Gillan to comment to The Wrap:

“It was kind of interesting to play because it’s almost like [Gamora] and Nebula have switched places and now Nebula is the more evolved character with more compassion and Gamora is like the old Nebula […] That was interesting to play around with, and Nebula in general is different this time around. She’s got much more of a sense of humor.”