With the exception of the Avengers movies, of course, no Marvel Studios series has so far made it beyond three films. And while Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder will be breaking that trend when it touches down in 2022, the highly anticipated pic will bring with it some significant changes to the saga, such as a passing of the torch from Chris Hemsworth to Natalie Portman.
With that in mind, let’s shift gears to the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. If director James Gunn’s recent comment on Instagram is any indication, then the team’s next outing will probably be his final entry in the cosmic superhero series. But while Gunn may be walking away from Star-Lord and co. after Vol. 3, that doesn’t mean the franchise itself is over.
Answering a question from a fan who asked if the threequel will be it for the series, Gunn said that it’ll probably be his last Guardians movie and probably the last one with the current team, before adding: “but you never know.” Reading between the lines here, it’s clear that while this is very likely it for Gunn and the characters we’ve come to know and love, another Guardians movie with a new team isn’t being ruled out. Which is exactly what WGTC has heard from our own sources.
Over the past few months, we’ve been telling you that Vol. 3 will be the final hurrah for Star-Lord and co., with a new squad set to be introduced at the end of the threequel, before going on to lead the franchise in Vol. 4 and beyond. Who exactly that team will consist of remains to be seen, but names like Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vell and Moondragon have been cropping up over and over again.
In any case, fans can at least rest easy knowing that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 likely won’t be it for the series. Though it will spell the end of the current iteration of the team. At least, in their current form. There’ve been rumors of spinoff shows on D+ for the likes of Drax and Mantis, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. For now, we can all look forward to the squad returning to our screens in the not too distant future.
