PETA gives James Gunn award for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 came out this past weekend, and if you saw it, one part likely sticks out in your mind: those flashbacks to Rocket’s past where we saw his horrific upbringing alongside other laboratory animals used in cruel experiments.

The movie has been accused of being exploitative in its depiction of animal cruelty, and it definitely is more intense than what we’re generally used to seeing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On the other hand, these scenes are incredibly powerful, and might even make people rethink their views on conducting experiments on animals in the real world.

That’s the tack being taken by PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They gave writer-director James Gunn their “Not a Number” award for his work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which PETA calls an “animal rights masterpiece.”

"Driven to avenge his friends’ murders after escaping from the laboratory, Rocket goes on to save other animals from a similar fate. PETA wants everyone to know that we can all do the same, simply by speaking out against animal experimentation and demanding that corporations, universities, and government agencies switch to cutting-edge, non-animal research methods.“Through Rocket, James Gunn has put a face, a name, and a personality on the millions of vulnerable animals being cycled through laboratories as we speak,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA is celebrating this as the best animal rights film of the year for helping audiences see animals as individuals and suggesting that just because we can experiment on them doesn’t mean that we should.”Like Rocket’s friends Lylla, Teefs, and Floor, most animals used in laboratories are killed after enduring a lifetime of suffering. They’re held in cramped cages, often alone, and mutilated, infected with diseases, purposely bred to suffer from debilitating conditions, forced to endure multiple painful procedures, locked into restraint devices, bombarded with stimuli for prolonged periods, and frequently denied adequate food, water, and pain relief. And even though the National Institutes of Health spends nearly $20 billion per year in taxpayer funding on animal testing, studies have shown that 95% of all new drugs that test safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials because they don’t work or are dangerous."

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 blows up the box office

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently tearing it up at the box office, with box office receipts on its opening weekend coming in ahead of projections, which suggests that the movie is getting good word of mouth. Painful as parts of it were to watch, I can’t deny that it got to me, so the success makes sense to me.

As for Gunn, he’s done with the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise after this. Next up, he’ll be going over to Warner Bros. Discovery to try and build out a new DC Cinematic Universe.

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