Guardians Of The Galaxy's Sean Gunn Would Return To The MCU Without James Gunn
This post contains spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is still kicking around in theaters after rocking the box office back in May to the tune of nearly $782 million worldwide. However, no matter how successful the latest cosmic Marvel movie is, there's no denying that director James Gunn effectively ended the stories of this iteration of the ragtag team of space criminals-turned-superheroes. Though not a single member of the titular team died, everyone chose to go their own separate ways and embark on their own personal journeys away from each other. But of course, there's a new roster for the Guardians of the Galaxy, and their adventures could easily spark a new chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.
In the film's mid-credits scene, we see that Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) has stepped up as the new leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot (Vin Diesel) is still sticking by his side, now in his massive King Groot form. Joining them is Sean Gunn as Kraglin (armed with his newly mastered whistling arrow), Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) and his loyal pet Blurp, as well as young Phyla-Vell (played by actor Kai Zen), one of the orphans rescued from the High Evolutionary's ship.
So far, it's unclear whether or not this is intended to actually lead into a potential "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4" or just a little epilogue that helps wrap up Rocket, Groot, and Kraglin's stories while also leaving them open-ended for a return somewhere else in the MCU. If Sean Gunn is given the opportunity, and the story is appealing, he'll reprise his role as the Ravager-turned-Guardian, even if his filmmaker brother is done with the franchise now.
'My job, as an actor, is to go where the stories are and do my best there'
Sean Gunn spoke with ComicBookMovie.com a couple weeks after "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" hit theaters. After confirming that a once-discussed spin-off for Rocket and Groot never really had any momentum behind the scenes, Gunn made it clear that he would be happy to return to the MCU, even if his brother isn't involved. Gunn said:
"I'd never say never. My job, as an actor, is to go where the stories are and do my best there. James and I have a great working relationship and I think, in some capacity, we'll always work together when we can. We also don't have to. If I'm working on something else, so be it. Just as he's off working on something else. So, no, I don't close any doors there. I always, particularly if Kevin [Feige] and [Marvel Co-President] Lou [D'Esposito] are on the phone, I answer the call."
Considering the fact that "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" was yet another box office hit for the MCU, it would make sense if Marvel Studios wanted to keep the franchise alive with this new team. However, there are plenty of new franchises sprouting up in the MCU all the time. After the events of "Avengers: Endgame," several longtime characters had their stories wrapped up, so there's no inherent need to bring the Guardians back. If anything, it's more likely that we'll see the new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy get involved in a bigger event movie like "Avengers: Kang Dynasty" or "Avengers: Secret Wars." Crossovers like that might even be enough to get the whole gang back together for a reunion.
For now, we'll just have to be happy that James Gunn got to end the story arcs for these characters on his own terms. But at the end of the day, these characters belong to Marvel Studios, and if they want to give them more adventures, there's nothing we can do to stop them.