With the way the third Guardians of the Galaxy ended, we know that if there were to be a fourth film in the franchise, it just wouldn’t be the same. Although the end-credits scene certainly leaves the door wide open for the Guardians to continue their galactic adventures, as well as promising Star-Lord’s return, I’m going to say what I think a lot of people are thinking: We should just leave the Guardians be.
What are the chances of getting a fourth film?
This is Disney we’re talking about. As fun as these films are, at the end of the day, it’s a business — and these films are a product. If they make money, then the studio will probably try and rinse a franchise for all it can. And boy, oh boy, did the Guardians make money. The first film garnered just under $800 million worldwide at the box office and the latter two surpassed the $800 million mark. Disney won’t be so quick to let such profitable heroes fade into obscurity.
Although as I’ve already mentioned, the last film sort of caps off the whole story; all of the characters have had their arcs and are going their separate ways, Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana have confirmed they are not planning on returning, and James Gunn is off to greener pastures. But that doesn’t mean the end for the Guardians as a whole, just this iteration of the Guardians that we know and love.
We already know that there are plans for a Peter Quill/Star-Lord solo movie as the end-credits scene already promised us that “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return.” On top of that, Rocket has a new team made up of Kraglin, King Groot, Adam Warlock, and Phyla, the young girl rescued from the High Evolutionary.
All this is to say that Disney has ample material to expand based on what we’ve seen in the third movie. Although nothing is in stone yet, it seems like the studio is only biding its time with these characters. They will more than likely return to the silver screen at some point, but hopefully not under the title “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4” because that would be pretty disrespectful to Gunn.
Why shouldn’t we get another Guardians?
Listen, I love all the Guardians as much as the next guy. But we’ve had our fun; there can always be too much of a good thing. Gunn did a fantastic job with these characters and the story across the three movies. It just works as a trilogy — why carry on and potentially run it into the ground?
You might be inclined to argue, but I would point your attention to other franchises like Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, or Transformers; all of these films worked as trilogies before extra films were tacked on. If Indiana Jones had stopped at The Last Crusade, the world would be a better place. It’s okay to end things on a high note; Hollywood has convinced us all that a franchise can’t die until it’s had a few awful sequels fail at the box office. But that isn’t the case.
Secondly, the original line-up for the team was pretty much perfect. I think it’s safe to say that fans went to theaters and paid for tickets to see the characters we’ve come to love over the past nine years. I know that’s why I did. A new line-up would have big boots to fill. I mean, sure, we all love Rocket, but his relationship with the others is what truly made him stand out. Will he have the same chemistry with a new team?
No Guardians without Gunn
Thirdly, and perhaps most important, is the fact that there are no Guardians without Gunn. His distinctive style, dialogue, and set designs really made the films stand out from the rest of the usual Marvel content. I know there are plenty of talented directors with great visions at Marvel, but Gunn’s cinematic flair is unique — it can’t be imitated.
Even then, the directors and writers at Marvel seem to be struggling right now. There’s no way I’d trust Peyton Reed to direct a Guardians film or Jeff Loveness to write one. It’s not their fault; the Marvel machine seems to chew up and spit out creatives, but Gunn was somehow able to stand above all of that. Now that he’s gone, I’m sure there’s nobody left who could do what he did.
I’m convinced anything from Marvel in the future related to the Guardians of the Galaxy would only ever be a pale imitation of the former glory contained within the original trilogy. Maybe I’m just being pessimistic, but I think we all just need to learn when to stop and appreciate what we got.
