James Gunn Hopes To Break A Hollywood Curse With Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

If the trailer for the next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film is any indication, it will be a bold, climactic finale to one of the best superhero groups in the MCU. The first two "Guardians" movies were surprisingly emotional underneath their goofy, lighthearted surfaces, whereas this third film doesn't even hide the fact that it plans to make us cry. "This is the big one," writer-director James Gunn told Entertainment Weekly. "This is where things really happen. This is where we get to know the truth about who these characters are, and we face the biggest stakes."

Of course, we'd forgive superhero fans in particular for being a little skeptical. We've seen plenty of trilogies before, and it's become common wisdom that the third film is always the worst. "The amount of good third episodes in a trilogy, I can count them on one hand," Gunn himself admitted. "Basically, there's the 'Before Sunrise' series. 'Lord of the Rings.' Maybe 'Spider-Man.' But there's just not too many good third ones." Of those three examples, one of them ("The Lord of the Rings") is sort of a cheat anyway, because its source material is one big book split up into three parts after the whole thing was finished. It's technically a trilogy, but is it really?

The list of clear-cut bad third movies, however, is much easier to make. There's "The Godfather: Part 3," which pretty much everyone agrees is a clear step-down. Even "Return of the Jedi," the final chapter in the overall-beloved "Star Wars" original trilogy, is widely considered the weakest of the bunch. Both of these are particularly disappointing considering that both franchises had already subverted common wisdom with their second installments, breaking the rule that the first movie's always the best. 

But in the end, whose fault is it that part threes are usually the worst received? Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" is widely considered the worst of the bunch, but would it still be considered such if the studio hadn't forced Raimi to squeeze in Venom against his wishes? "Scream 3" is seen as the worst of the original "Scream" films, but a lot of its supposed flaws were the result of things outside the creatives' control. The aftermath of the Columbine shooting apparently led to the film choosing to be notably less gory or scary, and with screenwriter Kevin Williamson not writing the full script this time around, it's a miracle the movie wasn't far worse.

Meanwhile, when part 3 of a trilogy has the full backing of the studio, where they trust the creatives to do what they want without any major interference, the movie usually turns out to be pretty good. Although "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" had mixed reviews at the time for being too long and perhaps too complicated, it is a thoroughly satisfying conclusion that gets better and better on rewatch. Likewise, Christopher Nolan seemed to have complete creative control in "The Dark Knight Rises," and this is considered one of the few superhero movies that breaks the threequel curse, even if it doesn't quite hold up to its predecessor. There are also films like "Toy Story 3," "Logan," and "Thor: Ragnorak," which prove that third movies can easily be some of the strongest in a series, not just a solid addition. 

Admittedly, this final film has a few things going against it. Mainly, there's the problem that so much has happened with the character of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) in between volumes 2 and 3, which basically makes "Infinity War" and "Endgame" required viewing to understand the emotional stakes. Whereas other famous movie trilogies stood entirely on their own, the different circumstances going into the final "Guardians" film will likely seem incredibly jarring to any viewers who don't care about the other Marvel films. 

But the most important factor is that James Gunn seems to have a lot of creative control over "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3," more so than you'd expect from a typical Marvel film. It looks like Gunn's been given the chance to end the Guardians' story on a conclusive note, without any concern for how this affects the MCU down the line, and that in itself is pretty rare. 

It also helps that Gunn's chosen to focus "Volume 3" on Rocket (Bradley Cooper), who he's always considered "the secret protagonist" of the series. As he's explained, "I felt like I needed to tell Rocket's story. I would've been very sad not to complete the trilogy for many reasons, but I just feel very connected to Rocket. I feel like nobody would be able to tell his full story if it wasn't me."

So although plenty of trilogies have fallen prey to the threequel curse, there's been little to suggest that "Guardians" will be one of them. When the creator cares as much about the story as Gunn does, and the studio is letting him do his thing, that's always a promising sign.