During his recent GQ cover story, Chris Pratt spilled the beans on a whole lot, from talk of him becoming the new Indiana Jones to Ghostbusters rumors. Less specifically but also excitingly, though, the Guardians of the Galaxy star discussed his future with Marvel, teasing that he’s signed on for not only Guardians of the Galaxy 2 but a threequel and other Marvel films.
The quote came when Pratt was musing about his packed schedule. Describing his Marvel commitments, the actor said that, “I’m tied to doing three more, or five more, Guardians of the Galaxy or whatever it is, you know, two more Guardians plus another couple…”
The interviewer took that to mean that Pratt is contracted to appear in second and third Guardians installments as well as other Marvel movies in which Star-Lord could brush up against other Avengers, and I’m inclined to agree. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is sprawling, but the masterminds working within it love to bring their characters into contact with one another – just look at how jam-packed Age of Ultron was.
Everything we’ve heard about the two-part Avengers: Infinity War suggests that MCU event will be the franchise’s biggest by a long stretch, so it would make sense for the Guardians to enter the fray at some point during those movies. After all, Guardians of the Galaxy found Star-Lord, Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) meddling in the affairs of Infinity War baddie Thanos (Josh Brolin) by pilfering an orb containing one of the Mad Titan’s coveted Infinity Stones. They’ll definitely have something to say about the villain attempting to collect all six and gain unprecedented power over the universe.
What’s more interesting is to consider the alternatives. What if Star-Lord reaches some members of the Avengers a bit earlier than Infinity War? Dependent on where Guardians of the Galaxy 2 leaves the character, he could potentially pop up in Thor: Ragnarok, which we know won’t take place entirely on Earth. Given that Ragnarok is thought to be a huge (and maybe final) Thor film, though, Marvel might decide to give the God of Thunder his space. Captain Marvel and Inhumans are also two films that will explore other worlds, though they both come after the first Infinity War, so not as hard to buy Star-Lord making an appearance.
Regardless, we’ll next see Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which has been set for May 5, 2017. In the GQ story, Pratt said he’d recently been briefed by director James Gunn on what comes next for the character, and he “got teary-eyed,” noting, “He’s so fucking smart and peculiar.”
