Warning: this article contains spoilers for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.’
While finality for the fan-favorite team has been the core tease leading up to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, up until this point it was somewhat unclear as to what that finality would actually look like. Does everyone die? Retire? Do they have a lover’s spat and refuse to ever speak to one another ever again? Or something else entirely? We warned you once already, but we’re heading into spoiler territory right now, so turn back or forever hold your peace.
As we’ve learned after seeing the film, the Guardians as we’ve come to know them have more or less disbanded, with most of the characters on the team having shifting priorities by the time the credits roll. That said, we do get a few hints and teases as to who’s going to be coming back and who isn’t, so let’s dig into who we’re likely to see again further down the line in the MCU’s future, perhaps even as early as the next Avengers film.
Which Guardians will return after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?
The most glaringly obvious character confirmed to be returning to the MCU is, of course, none other than Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, a.k.a Star-Lord, in case you missed the blindingly bright “The Legendary Star-Lord will return” following the film’s post-credits scene. From here, we can make a few educated speculative guesses as to who else we’ll be seeing again.
While Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista have ruled out the respective returns of Gamora and Drax, given the former character has a new life as a ravager and the latter has a settlement of ‘moron’ children to look after. However, the film’s mid-credits scene seems to hint that a whole new team of guardians could resurface at some point down the line, with a few of its O.Gs – namely Groot, Rocket, and to a lesser extent, Kraglin. Of course, this could always not come to pass, but rather serve as a fond farewell and an assurance that wherever the MCU may wind up, its Guardians of the Galaxy will always be out there somewhere fighting the good fight.