With the exception of the Avengers films, no Marvel Studios series has so far made it beyond movie number three. And while Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder is set to break that pattern when it arrives in theaters two years from now, the highly anticipated fourquel is expected to bring some big changes to the saga, including a passing of the torch from Chris Hemsworth to Natalie Portman.
With that in mind, let’s talk about the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. If director James Gunn’s recent comment on Instagram is anything to go by, then the Guardians’ next outing will likely serve as the filmmaker’s final entry in the cosmic superhero series. But while Gunn may be calling it quits after Vol. 3, sources close to We Got This Covered – the same ones who told us Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk shows were in development before they were officially announced – have suggested that the franchise could still continue beyond the basic trilogy, albeit in a very different form.
Just as Love and Thunder will serve as a soft reboot of the Thor series, the third Guardians will apparently introduce a new line-up of space adventurers while wrapping up the stories of the current team. To elaborate, we’re told that the various members of the original crew will either be killed off or move on to new things, clearing the way for a line-up consisting of Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vell, Moondragon and a couple of others.
Seeing how Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is at least a few more years away from release, there’s certainly still time for some of these details to change, but given the MCU’s rule of threes, a changing of the guard would surely make sense if the series is to continue. In the meantime, Marvel Studios still has a whole other phase of films to get through, starting with the release of Black Widow on May 1st, 2020.