James Gunn May Be Done With The MCU, But Chris Pratt And Star-Lord Are Here To Stay

In October of 2022, it was announced that James Gunn — the director of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films — would be leaving the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to take a prestigious job at Warner Bros. with his creative partner Peter Safran. The two of them have been tasked with inventing an entirely new interconnected cinematic universe of their own based on DC Comics, and Gunn has already announced his work on a Superman film he plans to call "Superman: Legacy." Gunn was already more or less facing the door when he directed "The Suicide Squad," a 2021 film based on DC Comics, and subsequently created a TV series, "Peacemaker," based on it.

"Vol. 3," as a result of Gunn's career shift, possesses an elegiac quality, with many established characters moving on to new careers at the film's conclusion. The mood is melancholic, as if audiences may not ever see these characters again. And, indeed, it's entirely possible that the original Guardians lineup may never again reassemble. Unless, of course, Marvel decides to reunite them for a legacy sequel some 30 years down the line, à la "Star Trek: Picard."

A final on-screen chyron, however — coming after the film's post-credits stinger — reminds the audience that the "legendary" Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) will indeed return. Gunn may have ushered the Guardians of the Galaxy into the popular consciousness and accrued millions of fans as a result, but it seems that he won't be the only one to tell Peter Quill's story. "It would be strange to continue [Star-Lord's] story without James," Pratt told Variety. "[...T]o continue to tell the story, it would really be important to honor what he's done in the first three films. [...] So maybe down the road if something makes sense I would do it but it would really have to check a lot of the right boxes."

Indeed, there's a lot more that can be explored with the character as he grows from an impish frat boy into a legitimate adult. Let's take a look at the character's arc to date.

The first two of James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies were explicitly about Peter Quill. Peter, to remind the reader, was a character so convinced of his own dazzling heroism that he self-applied the nickname "Star-Lord." Like anyone who selects their own nickname, Peter was something of a blowhard who may have been a capable hero in a pinch, but who was not the most graceful person otherwise. Peter was obsessed with 1980s pop culture — or what he remembers of it before he was abducted from Earth as a child — and was eager to be brash and "funny."

Peter's behavior, audiences soon learned, was a defense mechanism for some deep-seated trauma. As a child, he witnessed his mother die, making the first film about interrupted motherhood and the child it created. The second "Guardians" movie was about Peter meeting his biological father, a distant planet-shaped intelligence that impregnated many aliens throughout the galaxy. Fittingly called Ego (Kurt Russell), Peter's father was a toxic narcissist. The second film was about stalled fatherhood.

In "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," Peter is finally forced to look inward. Seeing as he begins the film in a state of extreme intoxication, it seems that he's been struggling with what he sees. He also had lost his would-be lover Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), only to see her replaced by a duplicate with no memories of him.

By the end of the film, Peter has to admit that he never really grew up and, given that he has access to a starship, moves back to Earth to find himself. He moves in with his grandfather (Gregg Henry) and begins learning how to be human again. In short, the frat boy grew up. If only a little bit.

One might even see a parallel between James Gunn and Peter Quill. The first film in Gunn's career was the unabashedly filthy "Tromeo & Juliet," a sex-and-violence-filled, Troma-backed riff on Shakespeare. He moved into other jokey spoof-like movies like "The Specials," and the tragic and painful "Super." He also made a really goopy, worm-based horror movie called "Slither" in 2006, for his directorial debut. As his films have progressed, however, Gunn has clearly mellowed, taking the edge off his humor, and replacing it with a very palpable sense of sentimentality. He replaced goop with syrup. Now he is graduating to the earnestness of a character like Superman and leaving his frat boy behind.

But just as Gunn's career will continue, so too will Star-Lord's. Like Gunn, Peter has now grown up and is ready for better things. It may be hard to imagine, but Marvel is now handling a Peter Quill that is ... actually mature. He may still have a silly sense of humor, but it seems Gunn left the character in a place where he can be grown up. And while it would be nice to think of Peter Quill retiring in bliss, there is surely a movie or two to be explored with Star-Lord leading a team with some agency and command skills. A new director, perhaps not a former frat boy, can now step in an continue his story.

It's also important to remember that actor Chris Pratt turns 44 this year. He's a middle-aged man, also likely growing and maturing in his craft as he continues to ply it. Keeping a middle-aged actor stuck in a 20s mindset would not be becoming, nor would it be respectful.

Peter Quill will live on. James Gunn will live on, somewhere else.