Guardians Of The Galaxy 4 May Have An Even Bigger Problem Than Avengers 5

Marvel Studios has a bigger problem making Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 than Avengers 5. The MCU’s transition continues as it rebuilds itself after the culmination of the Infinity Saga. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are already in the process of changing key players after Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Captain America (Chris Evans) retired, and soon, the Guardians of the Galaxy will follow suit. Given the team’s membership, this could prove seriously problematic.

Launched in 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy was arguably one of the biggest risks in MCU’s history. Directed by James Gunn, it marked the first time that Marvel Studios introduced an entirely new superhero team with its members not having any previous appearances in the franchise. It didn’t help that its characters were mostly obscure, with little to no brand recognition outside of avid comic book readers. But, the gamble paid off; the film was a hit and the Guardians of the Galaxy crew immediately became fan-favorites. Now, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) are established household names. Meanwhile, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 added Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) to the roster.

As repeatedly confirmed by Gunn, his iteration of the team will end in the upcoming threequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which has been delayed significantly. Plot specifics of the film remain tightly under wraps, but the filmmaker has also teased about a death or two in the narrative. Meanwhile, Bautista separately announced that the threequel will be his last outing as Drax the Destroyer. However its story pans out, it poses a big challenge for Marvel Studios with regard to continuing the MCU sub-franchise through Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4. At this point, several members of the next iteration of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have long been established in the universe, with additional ones having already been introduced. But it will be difficult to do have the same game plan for their galactic counterparts for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the Guardians of the Galaxy has a closer bond than the Avengers, so members can’t just be replaced to complete its roster. Secondly, since they’re cosmic heroes, it’s tricky to individually introduce new characters in other upcoming MCU projects. With the majority of its stories set on Earth, Marvel Studios is able to separately debut fresh heroes for the Avengers and bring them all together later on. With Guardians of the Galaxy, the studio does not have this luxury, making the future a real challenge.

Conversely, there’s also a chance that Marvel Studios decides to end the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. After all, the MCU tends to do standalone films in trilogies, except for Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who is slated to get a fourth solo adventure via Thor: Love and Thunder. That being said, the Guardians of the Galaxy movies are far too popular for the universe to drop them after their original roster, especially when there’s a way to continue the sub-franchise. So, it’s either several members of the Guardians of the Galaxy team that remain active in the franchise and a couple of additional members are introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 as they did in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Or, an entirely new slate is debuted in the said film. Either way, its biggest challenge is to make sure that the fans are instantly drawn to them the same way they were with the original roster. 

At this point, Gunn is fully focused on delivering a satisfying Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. There’s a lot of pressure on the film to succeed considering that it will be the final hurrah for the cosmic team’s original slate. But since Marvel Studios is known to play the long game, it isn’t surprising if they already have laid the foundations for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4. Although it seems all but certain that the lucrative series won’t finish just yet, it’s clear that continuing it poses a different kind of challenge for Marvel than Avengers 5.

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