Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 star Pom Klementieff teases that director James Gunn's trilogy-capper might not be the Guardians' final appearance in the MCU. After their introduction in 2014, the titular hero team would go on to appear in their very own sequel in 2017 as well as other MCU movies like Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder. The Guardians are next slated to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which Gunn has described as the final chapter for this iteration of the hero team.
After the recent Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer teased that the sequel will have plenty of humor and heartbreak, Klementieff sat down for an interview with the D23 Inside Disney podcast to share more of what's in store for fans. While acknowledging that the film represents the end of the line for the team in certain respects, the star also makes clear that the Guardians may still have a future in the MCU beyond the installment. Check out Klementieff's full comment below:
"What I can say is that, again, it’s gonna be very funny but also extremely emotional. And it’s gonna be, in some ways, the end of the chapter as the Guardians of the Galaxy family. So, we’ll see what happens after, you know? It’s not like, ‘Over, over,’ but it’s still… it’s gonna be different after, for sure."
When The Guardians Could Return In The MCU After GOTG 3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may be the final chapter for this particular iteration of the hero team, but it's certainly possible that Chris Pratt's Star-Lord, Zoe Saldaña's Gamora, Dave Bautista's Drax, and the other Guardians will return as ing players in other MCU movies, much like they did in Avengers: Infinity War and Thor: Love and Thunder. Fans probably shouldn't expect to see the Guardians in any Phase 5 movies after the third installment, but there are several big titles in Phase 6 of the MCU that could see certain return in some capacity. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, for example, are expected to serve as the conclusion to the Multiverse Saga, potentially meaning a large team-up of heroes akin to that of Avengers: Endgame is on the horizon.
Kang (Jonathan Majors) will be officially introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the villain is already teased as potentially being even stronger than Josh Brolin's Thanos. A villain with this level of power can only be defeated by a very strong hero team, and the Guardians of the Galaxy have proven themselves on multiple occasions to be strong additions to any fight against a massive supervillain. The recent trailer teased that Gunn's film may see one or more of the Guardians die, potentially meaning that, if they do return in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty or Avengers: Secret Wars, they could be missing a member or two.
It remains to be seen how Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will wrap up the stories of everyone on the team, but Klementieff's comment, in addition to other comments from Pratt and Gunn, suggests that whatever comes next will be a big departure from how the team currently exists. In addition to possible returns in big team-up movies like Avengers: Secret Wars, it's also possible that certain Guardians, like Mantis, could feature in their very own series or specials on Disney+. While many mysteries remain regarding Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the film is shaping up to be an interesting turning point for a group of heroes who have really struck a chord with many MCU fans.
Source: D23 Inside Disney
