It was made abundantly clear by its writer and director – never mind several of the principal cast members – that Vol. 3 would mark the end of the line for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s current iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
On the other hand, James Gunn wasn’t so precious that he wouldn’t sanction the idea of the franchise carrying on without him. While it would be entirely within Kevin Feige’s rights to announce a brand new feature starring the superhero sandbox’s favorite band of intergalactic misfits boasting a brand new lineup, you’d expect the backlash from those left weeping in the aisles by the end of Vol. 3 would be deafening.
Despite its status as one of the very few standalone MCU sagas that won’t be resurrected under any circumstances – unless of course things go horribly wrong for Gunn over at DC Studios – I Am Groot creator Kirsten Lepore nonetheless revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that she’d be open to picking up that baton and running with it should the opportunity ever present itself.
“Yeah, I’m open to it, for sure. Years ago, I was like, ‘I definitely want to do live-action!’ I was trying to move into live-action, and now, I think I’m more at peace. I don’t even want to say ‘at peace’ because I’m not settling. I love animation so much. I think I better understand what I bring to animation because it does take a really specific type of person to direct it. I’ve been doing it for so long and I feel very comfortable in that space, and I feel good at it. So I really enjoy working in animation – and I would be totally happy to work in animation for the rest of my life – but I would also be very curious to experiment with live-action.”
That’s hardly a pitch being made directly to the bigwigs at Marvel, but it would also be an accurate statement to say that the Guardians of the Galaxy saga ended on a high note and shouldn’t be trotted out for a hypothetical Vol. 4, unless Gunn is the one calling the shots.