Summary
- Star-Lord's retirement and decision to return to Earth means he won't achieve the legendary status he wanted as the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Scott Lang's book reveals some subtle hints about the Guardians' involvement in MCU events, but it's clear that they are not well-known on Earth.
- While Star-Lord's decision aligns with James Gunn's statement that the Guardians are not known on Earth, it remains to be seen how he will make a return to action and potentially earn his "Legendary" title.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 saw Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) retiring as the leader of the team, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe has now subtly confirmed that his future will be his nightmare. After two solo movies and teaming up with the rest of the MCU heroes to save the universe in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy returned for a final adventure together in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The third Guardians film explored the origin story of Rocket Raccoon while also giving closure to the original team and making way for a new one.
Unlike the original Avengers team, all the Guardians survived their third film, but not all of them stayed in the team at the end. Every Guardians member went their own way, with only Rocket Raccoon and Groot staying, but the one who made the most drastic decision was Star-Lord. Peter decided to retire and return to Earth, reuniting with his grandfather, whom he last saw minutes before he was taken by Yondu and the Ravagers when he was a child. While this was a heartwarming ending for Star-Lord, the MCU has now subtly confirmed that Star-Lord’s future will be his nightmare.
Ant-Man's Book Told The World About The Infinity Saga (But Not The Guardians Of The Galaxy)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania revealed that, between the events of Avengers: Endgame and Quantumania, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) wrote a book, titled Look Out For The Little Guy, in which he shared his experience as a father and an Avenger. The book is real and was written by Rob Kutner, and was made available for purchase on September 5, 2023. As expected, Ant-Man’s book is full of fun bits, but it also has some subtle reveals about some MCU events and characters, including the Guardians of the Galaxy. Although all of them took part in Endgame’s Battle of Earth, Lang only briefly mentions some of the Guardians.
Lang mentions a “talking raccoon from space” showing up and later name-checks Rocket and Nebula when explaining who went where in the Time Heist, as Rocket went back to 2013 Asgard with Thor, and Nebula traveled to Morag in 2014 with Rhodey. Lang also mentions that Thanos “tortured one daughter and sacrificed another” but doesn’t go deeper into that despite being a key moment in Avengers: Infinity War, as sacrificing Gamora granted Thanos the Soul Stone.
Lang doesn’t mention the Guardians’ role in defeating Thanos during the Battle of Earth, even though they fought on the same side of the battle, yet they never actually worked together beyond Rocket and Nebula being involved in the Time Heist.
Star-Lord's MCU Future Makes Him Unlegendary
Peter Quill wanted to be known as the legendary Star-Lord and be infamous across the galaxy (though that was mostly before he ed the Guardians of the Galaxy), but his decision at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won’t let him achieve legend status. By staying on Earth and living the peaceful life he never had with his grandfather, Star-Lord will simply be Peter Quill, and with not even his fellow MCU heroes being aware of what he and the Guardians have been doing, Star-Lord won’t become legendary. This ends up creating a plot hole for Ms. Marvel, where Guardians merch and cosplayers were seen at AvengerCon, but at the same time, it fixes canon along with something James Gunn stated about the Guardians.
During a Q&A session on Twitter, Gunn was asked if the Guardians of the Galaxy are known on Earth, to which he simply replied “no”. This fits with Scott Lang not even mentioning them in his book even though they have been a strong presence in the MCU and they were directly linked to Thanos through Gamora and Nebula, but it makes the Ms. Marvel plot hole even worse. Ultimately, Star-Lord sacrificed his dream of being a legend across the universe in order to have a normal life, and it's to be seen how he will return to action to, possibly, earn his "Legendary" title.
Scott Lang's "Look Out For The Little Guy" is available to buy now.
