Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Pratt Explains the Concept of a Walkman

CBR

By Meagan Damore

Published Apr 6, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy's Chris Pratt, who plays Peter 'Star-Lord' Quill, wants to teach fans exactly how this piece of history works.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" star Chris Pratt has a history lesson for you. Pratt, who plays Peter "Star-Lord" Quill in the upcoming film, will wield his trusty Walkman as he fights against inter-dimensional monsters and more, and he wants you to know exactly how this piece of history works.

According to Pratt, the Walkman was invented roughly "several hundred years ago." Unlike some more modern inventions we could mention, the Walkman couldn't stream music, it didn't have a touch screen and you certainly could skip songs. That's right -- as Pratt explains, you had to listen to the whole cassette from front to back. However, Pratt helpfully points out that you could put those headphones on your head and "walk, man."

Of course, Pratt is being facetious here. The Walkman was invented in 1979 and remained popular throughout the '80s and '90s, which explains why a young Peter was so attached to it when he was abducted from earth in 1988.

Quill's Walkman played a major role in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy" film. The device served as a reminder of his mother, who had compiled a mixtape called "Awesome Mix Vol. 1" for him as a child. She later died of cancer, which devastated Peter to the point where he refused to open her dying gift to him until after he and the other Guardians defeated Ronan the Accuser. In fact, Peter used his music to kick off a "dance-off" with Ronan, which distracted him enough for the Guardians to get the Infinity Stone back and save the day.

At the end of the first film, Quill finally opened that gift, only to discover a second mixtape: "Awesome Mix Vol. 2." Per director James Gunn, Quill's music will play an even bigger role in the sequel film: "I would say that a couple of the songs, and particularly one song has very unique lyrics that play in much more specific part into the plot, than any song did in the first film."

Written and directed by James Gunn, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2″ stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Kurt Russell. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” arrives in theaters May 5.