Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn shared a promising update on more potential installments of the franchise in the future.
The end cap to Gunn's big cosmic trilogy is finally here. While some critics and fans love it, the project is sadly the lowest-rated of the three Guardians films on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gunn has long hyped up the upcoming threequel as his last outing for the titular group and even his last for Marvel Studios as a whole. But does that mean there'll never be a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4?
Will There Be a Guardians 4?
In an interview with Esquire Middle East, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 writer-director James Gunn provided a promising update for additional entries in the massive franchise down the road.
While the director doesn't believe there will ever be a "Vol. 4" following the same group of characters in Vols. 1-3, he does believe there could be a fourth movie in the Guardians franchise:
“I don’t think there will ever be a 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4.' There’s many reasons this group will not be back. There could be more 'Guardians' movies, but it won’t be with this group.”
Gunn emphasized that he would "love to see" and support a fourth movie, as long as a new director "brings themselves to it:"
“I think as long as somebody brings themselves to it, and doesn’t just try to copy that style—I think it can be really amazing. And there’s so many directors I would like to do that. And I would love to see it happen.”
The Future of the Guardians of the Galaxy
Warning - The rest of this article contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
The strangest part about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is how every actor involved is treating it like it's the last time they'll ever play the characters.
Well, except for Chris Pratt, who recently vocalized that he'd return provided whatever comes next "honor[s]" what James Gunn did "in the first three films."
Zoe Saldana, however, recently proclaimed that "it is the end for [her], for Gamora." Though, by the end of the film, her character is still very alive and active, just with another group of Ravagers.
Everyone in the film is set up in such a way that they could, and should, naturally go on to become involved in future Marvel Studios projects. It would be strange and simply a waste if this entire cast never returned to the MCU.
After all, the end of Vol. 3 clearly sets up a new team, who will almost certainly go on to involve themselves in major cosmic matters. One of those newbies is Phyla-Vell, the love interest to Moondragon—also known as Drax's daughter.
Seems like the perfect way to get at least one original Guardians member back into the game.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now in theaters worldwide.
