'Guardians of the Galaxy' director on lack of Gamora merchandise

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 doesn’t come out until May 2017, but director James Gunn is already thinking about the film’s merchandise.

After Zoe Saldana’s character Gamora wasn’t featured in a number of products associated with the 2014 blockbuster — something that prompted the hashtag #WheresGamora to trend — Gunn wanted to make sure that the same thing doesn’t happen with Vol. 2.

“I had a big conversation about this yesterday with one of my producers at Marvel,” Gunn said in a Facebook Q&A on Thursday night, “about trying to make sure that Gamora is represented more in all the Guardians toys, but especially in the clothing and bedsheets and all that stuff. I think it’s really important.”

Gunn added, “It’s frustrating when she’s not in stuff, and so it bums me out.”

The question of Gamora merchandise echoes an Avengers controversy earlier this year, when Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow was conspicuously absent from various products. One toy had Captain America driving the motorcycle that Black Widow rode in an Age of Ultron action sequence, and Mark Ruffalo, the Hulk himself, tweeted at Marvel asking for more Black Widow toys “for my daughters and nieces.”

Gunn also responded to questions about both a Guardians–Avengers crossover and a Gamora–Peter Quill love scene with silent shrugs, and he animatedly argued — and asserted that he would “argue to the death” — that Groot cannot be played by just anyone. “Groot did not come alive until Vin [Diesel] did his voice,” he said. “It’s huge, what he does for us.”

Watch the entire Q&A below. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 comes out May 5, 2017.