Marvel Studios officially announced 11 main actors returning for James Gunn's The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The upcoming film, which may be the last Marvel Studios outing for James Gunn (who recently was promoted to co-lead of DC Studios), will see this iteration of the team go on one last adventure.
This time around, the motley crew will be going up against both Adam Warlock and the High Evolutionary— so, making it out unscathed won't be easy.
But who can fans expect for sure to be in the upcoming blockbuster?
Main Actors & Characters in Guardians Vol. 3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's latest official press release highlighted the sequel's top 11 billed actors, who will presumably have the most screentime:
Chris Pratt - Star-Lord
Ever since his debut in Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord has been the heart and soul of the cosmic band of misfits.
The last time audiences spent time with him, he wasn't feeling too great, as Quill still isn't over the loss of Gamora in Avengers: Infinity War.
Zoe Saldana - Gamora
While Gamora may have died at the hand of Thanos in Infinity War, a Variant of the fan-favorite character is getting a second chance in the MCU.
Sadly, descriptions of what was shown off from the film at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 indicate that she won't be anything like the hero audiences lost in 2018.
Dave Bautista - Drax
While Bautista has been relatively vocal recently regarding his issues with how his character has been handled, he's back for one more adventure.
Given the actor's tenor lately, this might even be his last appearance in the MCU.
Karen Gillan - Nebula
This will be the first time audiences see Nebula as a true teammate of the Guardians of the Galaxy—not counting the Holiday Special.
Given her previous five years as an Avenger during the blip, she should be used to the team atmosphere by the time Vol. 3 rolls around.
Pom Klementieff - Mantis
Having first debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Mantis is back once again, following her narrow holiday season save in the Guardians Holiday Special.
While delivering Kevin Bacon to Peter Quill was no doubt a Christmas-sized challenge, one would assume that the High Evolutionary, Vol. 3's antagonist, will be a bit harder.
Vin Diesel - Groot
As most would expect, the walking and talking sentient tree, Groot, returns for another adventure. But, this time, he will be sporting another entirely new design—which technically debuted during the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
The stocky version of the character is an interesting choice. Though, it's the closest fans have been to adult Groot ever since his tragic sacrifice in the first Guardians movie.
Bradley Cooper - Rocket
Recently, director James Gunn claimed that Rocket has "always [been] the secret protagonist" of the Guardians films.
Upon reflection, he's certainly not wrong. And now he'll be getting more spotlight than he ever has, with Gunn previously touting how much Vol. 3 will focus on Cooper's anthropomorphic hero.
Sean Gunn - Kraglin
The man who does Rocket's motion capture work on set was also given an original role in Kraglin, someone who's been part of the crew since the beginning.
Despite his absence in the last two Avengers films (aside from his very brief appearance in Endgame), Sean Gunn's Ravager is back as a full-fledged member of the Guardians.
Chukwudi Iwuji - The High Evolutionary
The villain for the upcoming threequel will be the dastardly High Evolutionary. The antagonist is known for his genetic experimentations, mainly centered on combining human and animal DNA.
He's also the man responsible for creating Rocket Racoon. Now it's time for audiences to see how their favorite talking rodent came to be.
Will Poulter - Adam Warlock
The post-credits tease for Adam Warlock first debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Now, six years later, it's set to come to fruition finally.
Poulter gets the honor of being the perfectly engineered golden man, who will likely become an important part of the wider MCU.
Maria Bakalova - Cosmo
Technically first seen in the very first film of the franchise, starting with the Holiday Special, the true and proper, telepathic-speaking space dog, Cosmo, is finally closer to their comics counterpart.
Thankfully, it's shaping up to look like the Russian pup might actually play a notable role in the movie's proceedings.
A Farewell to the Guardians?
Gunn previously admitted that "this iteration of the team is done after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," so odds are, this is the last time audiences see these eleven main cast members together.
But what's next? While Gunn "doesn't care" about what the next version of the team may look like, there'll almost certainly be some sort of new team for the future of the MCU.
Whoever makes it out of Vol. 3, and decides to keep doing the hero gig, might want to add to their ranks. New team members could include, Cosmo, Adam Warlock, Nova, Silver Surfer, and many others.
Hopefully, Vol.3 will be just the beginning of the awesome cosmic-based stories that Marvel Studios has up its sleeves for the Multiverse Saga.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, later this year.
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