Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is upon us, and it is no secret that the last of the trilogy is concluding the journey of our favorite team of a-holes. Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista have declared to be moving on from the Marvel world now that James Gunn will be emigrating to work at DC, but Star-Lord is leaving the door open for future appearances. Variety reports that Chris Pratt, who was recently revealed to be just as instrumental to Gunn’s rehiring at Marvel as his co-stars, wouldn’t count out returning as Star-Lord in the future even without Gunn.
However, Pratt would only consider coming back for future appearances if whoever is writing for Peter Quill would be honoring what Gunn had built with his character. “It would be strange to continue [Star-Lord’s] story without James. He’s done such a masterful job in the first three films. We really found the voice of Peter Quill together and without him, obviously, I would never have had this opportunity. He writes it, he directs it, he dreams up the music, it’s his imagination on screen. So, to continue to tell the story, it would really be important to honor what he’s done in the first three films and to honor what the fans have grown to love about the character and not simply do it because people might show up to pay for it, you know?” Pratt explained.
Pratt continues, “I don’t want to be cynical in the approach and if that’s the case, I just wouldn’t do it at all. 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.”
Recently, it’s been unveiled that Gunn had mostly been pleased with how the Avengers movies handled the Guardians in Infinity War and Endgame with a couple of notable exceptions on character decisions. Star-Lord played a role in both of his objections, but for the most part, the Guardians remained pretty true to Gunn’s established vision. In addition, Gunn was attached to the epic Avengers crossovers as an executive producer and is said to have contributed some ideas, but the Russo brothers would ultimately take over with his cast.
When the Guardians ended up teaming up with Thor at the conclusion of Endgame, the group would also make a short appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, which was helmed by Taika Waititi. Again, for the most part, they stayed true to their nature, but their screentime would be minimal.