(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)
Let’s get this straight, right from the jump: No, Marvel is not making Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 — at least, not that we know of.
There has been some online speculation suggesting a new Guardians of the Galaxy installment may be on the way, and we apologize for bursting the bubble of any MCU fan who might have hoped this to be the case. But we also know that there are some legitimate reasons folks might think this, so we understand if there’s been some confusion.
We all fell in love with the plucky (yeah, we said it), relatable Guardians when they danced their way into our hearts in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. They were a bit goofier, a bit more eccentric than the MCU heroes we’d gotten to know up to that point — remember, they were the first ones other than the OG Avengers to get their own film — and they further established that Marvel could take relatively unknown characters and do great things with them.
(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)
So it’s not surprising that Star-Lord and Co. became fan favorites who ultimately gave us a trilogy of Certified Fresh adventures, and it’s certainly understandable why fans would be clamoring for more. But why all the speculation? Let’s dig into the details, and of course, for anyone who isn’t caught up on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, BEWARE: SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW.
Post- and mid-credits scenes existed before the MCU, of course, but Marvel turned them into an art form, leaving tantalizing breadcrumbs for eager fans to devour at the end of every movie. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was no exception.
About a minute into the film’s end credits, we get the first of two extra scenes, depicting newly christened Guardians leader Rocket (Bradley Cooper) in a pre-battle moment of quiet with a fresh new team that includes an even larger Groot (Vin Diesel), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), Cosmo (Maria Bakalova), and Phyla (Kai Zen), one of the High Evolutionary’s genetically enhanced children. The clear implication is that this is a new iteration of the Guardians who have embarked on their own adventures.
(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)
Later, a second scene presents a much clearer message. As the credits come to an end with a group shot of the entire Guardians team — both new and old — and fades to black, we cut to a decidedly Earthbound Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) seated at a dining table and eating cereal with his grandfather. The mundane conversation between them doesn’t hold any significance, but the brief sequence ends with a bright white screen that declares “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return.” That certainly sounds like a promise.
Now, while many insist that these clips are evidence that Disney and Marvel have a Vol. 4 in mind, some suggest they hint at the Guardians reprising their roles in other MCU films, such as Avengers: Secret Wars, currently set to release in 2027. It does seem a bit cruel to end Vol. 3 with such a bold declaration if all we’re going to get is a glorified Star-Lord cameo years down the line, and we’re expected to accept that Rocket and his new team are just off somewhere doing awesome things that we’ll never get to see.
(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)
But there are other extenuating circumstances that make another sequel rather unlikely, and the primary factor has a lot to do with Marvel’s “Distinguished Competition,” as it were.
A little history: James Gunn, who wrote and directed the Guardians trilogy, was famously fired by Disney back in late July of 2018 while Vol. 3 was in development, when some controversial Tweets he had made a decade earlier resurfaced. This all happened at the height of the #MeToo movement, and considering some of the jokes were about topics like rape and pedophilia, Disney didn’t want to take any chances. Of course, that didn’t stop the studio from wanting to continue on with the film — with Gunn’s original script, no less — though production was ultimately postponed.
In the wake of this firing, however, DC Studios leapt at the opportunity to employ Gunn’s talents for a little do-over of one of its most savagely panned recent films, 2016’s Suicide Squad, which similarly focused on a motley crew of criminals who become heroes.
(Photo by Jessica Miglio/©Warner Bros.)
By October of 2018, Gunn had negotiated his exit from Vol. 3 with Disney and signed on to DC’s overhaul of The Suicide Squad, but reportedly just one day after he joined the film, Walt Disney Studios head Alan Horn personally told Gunn that he was going to bring him back on board Vol. 3, allowing Gunn to finish The Suicide Squad first.
The Suicide Squad eventually released in theaters in the summer of 2021, freeing Gunn to finish what he started back at Disney. More importantly, the film earned some of the best reviews in the entire DC Extended Universe franchise, and DC Studios decided to chase that feeling. They ultimately had the last laugh.
Before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 even released in theaters in 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav announced that James Gunn and his frequent producing partner Peter Safran would be the new co-CEOs of DC Studios, presumably with the intent of doing for DC what Gunn achieved with The Suicide Squad.
In plain English, this means that the man largely credited with the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy has a bit of a tainted history with Disney and Marvel, and now he not only works for their crosstown rivals, but he’s their leader.
(Photo by Jessica Miglio/©Marvel Studios)
In plainer English, this means there will be no Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4, or at least not one that will be anything like the first three. For further proof, when asked by fans if there were any plans for a Vol. 4, Gunn flat out stated that there were none. According to Gunn, the franchise was created with only three films in mind, making Guardians a trilogy from the outset.
Of course, Disney could just hire another director for Vol. 4. There’s clearly no shortage of talent available to them, whether they might choose to pull from their extensive roster of collaborators or take a chance on a rising star. But there is so much of James Gunn baked into what makes the Guardians who they are, and it’s hard to imagine those characters feeling the same in anyone else’s hands.
But the last piece of evidence can be found in Marvel’s plans for the future of the MCU. Phases Five (what’s left of it) and Six chart a course that extends all the way into 2027, beginning with the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine and culminating in the aforementioned Avengers: Secret Wars, and there is no sign of the Guardians in any of it. That’s not to mention the handful of undated films currently in development that includes a new Spider-Man movie and the forthcoming reintroduction of the X-Men.
With all of that said, Disney and Marvel may have something new to say at San Diego Comic-Con or D23, the exclusive event when the House of Mouse announces its upcoming movies and series, business ventures, and other goodies. Both events are right around the corner, so you never know.
(Photo by ©Marvel Studios)
In the meantime, it’s probably best to come to terms with the fact that a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 is not in the cards. James Gunn is busy making a Superman movie, Rocket and Groot are busy leading the new Guardians, Mantis is busy finding herself, Drax and Nebula are busy raising space children, Gamora’s busy being a Ravager, and Star-Lord is mowing lawns in Missouri. That all seems perfectly fitting to us.
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