As The Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 3 closes, so too does the story of the team that writer/director James Gunn set out to tell. The group has come together, grown and change and find themselves in new places as people before moving on to new phases of their lives. Peter Quill has decided to journey back home to Earth to reestablish a relationship with his grandfather, Mantis has decided to go out into the galaxy to find her purpose, while Drax and Nebula leave the team to help oversee the settlement on Knowhere and to raise the children freed from captivity on the High Evolutionary’s ship. While Gamora returns back to the Ravengers, Rocket and Groot are going on to lead a new team of Guardians.
And rather than just letting them head off on their new directions, Gunn uses the film’s expected mid-credit and post-credit scene to give us a peek at how some of these Guardians are dealing with their new life directions.
The New Guardians
As the new leader of the Guardians, Rocket has formed a new team of heroes. Joining him and Groot are former Ravager Kraglin, having finally mastered Yondu’s cybernetic arrow weapon, Adam Warlock and Phyla, one of the young children that were rescued from the High Evolutionary’s ship in the climax of the movie.
The mid-credits scene finds the new team sitting around a desert location talking music, specifically their favorite musical acts. All of their replies seem to be based off of music from the Zune MP3 player that Quill gifted to Rocket before leaving for Earth. Phyla, states she likes the unlikely pairing of Britney Spears and Korn. Kraglin expresses his admiration of “the man, Garth Brooks,” while Cosmo says that “The Carpenters doen’t have a single bad song.” Adam Warlock answers with guitarist Adrian Belew, “both solo and his work with King Crimson.” (We here at FilmBuffOnline are also Adrian Belew fans, so Adam Warlock gets a thumbs up from us for this choice.)
Rocket then reveals that for him, a special song is Redbone’s “Come And Get Your Love,” the song that opened the first Guardians picture. As he starts to play it on the Zune, the group see a charging pack of creatures with very sharp teeth. It is at this moment we see that the Guardians have been hired to protect a village from the hoard about to descend on them. As Rocket leads his new team, and new family, in the charge to meet the creatures, the scene fades out with the promise that the Guardians will go on protecting people while providing a home for misfit heroes.
Star-Lord Will Return
As the final end credits roll up off the screen, we fade in on the kitchen of Peter Quill’s grandfather Jason’s kitchen. It is morning, Peter is eating a bowel of cereal and asking Jason why he has to be the one to mow a neighbor’s law when she apparently has a forty-five son who could do it. “Don’t get me started,” is all Jason has to say in reply.
That’s pretty much it in terms of action, though the subtext clearly is that Quill and Jason are already on their way to forging their new relationship. But that’s not all that the future may have in store for for Star-Lord, because as this scenes fades to black the words come up across the screen – “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return.”
As to when Star-Lord will return remains a question. There has been no formal announcement from Marvel as to Chris Pratt appearing in any future, already announced MCU project. Of the announced titles left to go during the current Phase Five – The Marvels, Deadpool 3, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts and Blade – only The Marvels, with its partial outer space setting, feels like a potential fit for the character. Though if he is appearing in that film, Marvel has been very good at keeping it a secret. Looking ahead to Phase Six, there are two Avengers films – The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars – which could possibly see an Avengers: Endgame-like coming together of heroes. But only the future – and Marvel studio chief Kevin Feige – know for sure.
