James Gunn dishes on the fate of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's villain

As the movie only just came out a few weeks ago, if you haven't had the chance to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 just yet, be sure to do so before continuing to read any further, as there are some rather serious spoilers being touched on.

At the end of the movie, when Rocket Raccoon finally confronts the High Evolutionary, the following massive ship explosion has led many fans to wonder what happened to the truly irredeemable villain. Director James Gunn has now taken to Twitter to touch on just that, and the fate of the character is likely a little surprising to say the least.

Because Gunn notes that the High Evolutionary was pulled to safety and is now being imprisoned on Knowhere, the giant floating Celestial head that the Guardians have made their home base.

Gunn followed up to explain how and why this happened, and why Rocket had a sudden overwhelming sense of empathy, adding: "It's the whole culmination of Rocket's journey. His shift comes in that he doesn't kill him - he goes from being the least empathetic to the most empathetic Guardian. It seems silly & hollow that he'd refuse to kill him & then leave him on an exploding ship. And, yes, there is a deleted scene. It's really great actually but it messed up the pacing of the end. But you'll see it in the extras eventually."

Gunn continues: "They discuss Rocket's change at High Evo's body (& they don't all agree). That's the whole point. And he doesn't have a code against killing when it's necessary - that's explained in the first post credits - but he won't kill just because he's angry anymore. He's come to see the sanctity of all life."

Knowing Marvel, this likely leaves the door open for the cruel character to return at some point in the future.