As with
Nebula, I’m glad that Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 2 showed us more of Yondu; a fun supporting character from the
first film became a great one, bringing both humor and heart along with a
heaping dose of badassery (some Yondu-related spoilers for Vol. 2.)
The
leader of the band of Ravagers who took Peter from Earth all those years ago,
Yondu is a delightfully-offbeat example of a chief outlaw. Even when you make the necessary space opera
adjustments, he’s still entirely his own creature. Yes, he’s a thief and a smuggler, the captain
of a ship and the head honcho of a pack of highly-unscrupulous fellows. He’s extremely pissed when Peter steals the
orb out from under him, and while I don’t think he ever wants to see Peter
dead, he very definitely wants Peter to pay.
However, he’s also an awesome space hick who tries to make Peter express
gratitude that Yondu didn’t let the other Ravagers eat him when he was a kid
and has a penchant for lining his flight console with tchotchkes. I love everything about that.
Things
get more complex for Yondu in Vol. 2. We learn at the end of the first movie, in a
throwaway line, that the Ravagers originally nabbed Peter to bring him to Ego,
then reneged on the deal, but the second film delves into this a lot more. Peter wasn’t the only child Yondu grabbed for
Ego, even though child-smuggling was pretty much the only thing verboten to the
galaxy’s sub-culture of Ravagers. But
somewhere between picking up Peter and delivering him as promised, Yondu
discovered what the deal really is with Ego and realized he obviously couldn’t
hand another child over to that man.
After having already earned the cold shoulder from other Ravager groups
for trading in kids at Ego’s request, Yondu invites the displeasure of Ego
himself for going back on his word and inducting Peter into the ravaging
business. Despite the “A Criminal’s
Guide to Child Accomplices” reasons he gives for keeping Peter (kids can fit
into small places, etc.), he plainly grows to care for Peter a lot.
This last
bit is the thread Vol. 2 really
follows with Yondu, his father-figure love for Peter combined with his
inability to express it. Over the course
of the film, much of what Yondu has held to gets taken away from him, and he finds
it increasingly hard to maintain that dismissive façade. He confesses to fellow self-sabotager Rocket
his tendency to push the people he cares about away, admitting the happiness
he’s denied himself because he’s too proud/afraid/self-loathing/whatever to try
for it. But in the end, when there’s
nothing left and Yondu sees Peter at his lowest, he digs deep and lets Peter
have a glimpse at his heart on Peter’s behalf, if not his own.
Oh, and
he’s a total BAMF. Both movies have
amazing showcase moments for his fin, a cranial device he uses to sync with a
floating arrow that he can control by whistling. It’s a weapon and fighting style that I
haven’t seen anywhere else, and just like I enjoy watching Groot in fight
scenes because of the uniqueness he brings to the table, I love watching Yondu
do his thing. He works his fin with
deadly precision, and when he’s using it, he carries himself in a manner that’s
somehow unassuming and dangerous at the same time – so cool.
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