As the conclusion to the Guardians trilogy and the last chance to tie up loose ends, James Gunn has a lot on his plate for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Although the movie is expected to focus on Rocket’s traumatic backstory, fans haven’t forgotten another Guardian’s unhealed childhood wounds.
Peter Quill was abducted from Earth by Yondu and the Ravagers when he was eight, right after his mother’s death. While gearing up for the release of the trilogy-concluding Vol. 3 with a rewatch of the two previous Guardians films, one fan was reminded of the fact that Meredith Quill’s hospital room was full of people when she died, including Peter’s grandparents who, that night, lost both their daughter and their grandson.
Peter’s granddad had a relatively important role in the first Guardians film, where he was played by Gregg Henry. Unfortunately, although Star-Lord’s time on Earth is referenced all the time, particularly in the recently released Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, besides his mom, we have never heard of any of his family members again. Gregg Henry did return for a cheeky Easter Egg sort of appearance in Guardians 2 when Ego attacks Earth — those are Peter’s grandparents we see driving the blue car — but the two never cross paths.
According to James Gunn, the first Guardians movie initially ended with Peter’s grandpa looking at a picture of Meredith and his grandson, and then up at the stars, indicating that he knew he had been abducted. It wound up getting cut because, not only was the scene too sad, but the director/writer was also worried audiences wouldn’t recognize Gregg Henry in old-man make-up.
Most comments on the original Reddit post seem to agree that Peter’s disinterest in his Earth family is justified given the trauma associated with them, but one fan points out that after the Battle of Earth, Peter is now famous, as seen in Ms. Marvel. When Kamala attends AvengersCon, there’s a documentary series on Quill, using his name full name. It’s possible his remaining family would have heard about it by now.
At this point, we doubt Gunn would bring back Quill’s family, but it’s a real possibility that he will invest some time in wrapping up the hero’s storyline by finally returning to Earth and facing the ghosts of his past. All questions will find answers when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters May 5.
