Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is such a tremendous success for Marvel that a Vol. 4 seems a no-brainer, considering how the newest movie ended. Of course, if Marvel makes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4, it won’t be a James Gunn story. The writer/director is now one of the bosses at Warner Bros. in charge of turning the DCEU into something worth watching. But James Gunn is excited to see what Marvel does with the characters in the future now that his Guardians tenure has ended.
Before we go any further, I’ll warn you that some spoilers will follow.
James Gunn wanted to helm the Guardians trilogy
The writer/director talked to The New York Times about his last Marvel movie, revealing some of the secrets behind making the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
James Gunn said that he always had the story mapped out for all of the Guardians and that he always saw Rocket (Bradley Cooper) as the secret protagonist. Rocket is a character Gunn says he identified with and a character whose full story we learn in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It all makes sense now: Rocket’s behavior in the first movies, his jokes, and Rocket’s incredible ability with tech.
Gunn further told The Times that he specifically agreed to return to Disney after being fired because he wanted to make this movie. That he wanted to be at the helm of all three films:
Yes. Everyone knows I was gone for a while, then I came back, and the reason I came back — because, frankly, I might not have otherwise — is I needed to tell Rocket’s story. I couldn’t have that stuff inside of me and not express it. I have a strange connection to that character where I feel like he deserves everything.
This is a story about a character who goes from being a little smuggling thief to becoming the leader of the greatest team the universe has ever known. And his back story, the pain of where he came from, all the seeds that I dropped from Vol. 1 when Peter Quill sees the injuries on his back, all of those things were leading to something, and it just felt stunted to cut it off there. It felt like I was setting all of that up and not finishing it. That was a hard pill for me to swallow.
Will Marvel make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4?
Now that the Guardian’s story has reached an end, where the arcs of most characters feel concluded, Gunn is satisfied and relieved to have been able to tell the story. But even though he won’t be in charge of a future Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4, if Marvel ever makes one, the director is excited about the possibility of seeing the characters together again.
“Whatever Marvel does with those characters, I can’t wait,” Gunn said. “I hope they use them. I can’t wait to see another filmmaker take on the Guardians, and I hope that they do it in a way that they take ownership of the characters.”
One of the film’s credits scenes indicates that the Guardians will continue to protect the galaxy under the leadership of Rocket. This implies that a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 movie might be in the works. Assuming that Marvel doesn’t reboot the franchise under a new name. A leak did say that the Annihilators might replace the Guardians.
Moreover, the second credits scene shows Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) on Earth, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ends with a line of text telling us that Star-Lord will return.
Considering that Kang is the next big threat that the larger group of Avengers will have to face in Avengers 5 and Avengers 6, we’ll probably see the Guardians in the MCU again. regardless of whether a Guardians Vol. 4 is in the works or not.
On a different note, two actors confirmed they’ve retired from the MCU, so we might not necessarily see them in future MCU adventures. That’s Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana, although the latter has said that she hopes Gamora gets recast.
