Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn’t on the slate for Phase 4, but it’s definitely coming in the not-so-distant future. We’ve already heard a lot of good things about writer/director James Gunn’s script for the threequel, too, with insiders saying that it’s a very emotional tale the filmmaker has told in his final installment of the Guardians franchise. Yup, Gunn has previously confirmed that this will be the final outing for the original team.
So, does this mean that there could be death on the horizon for our favorite cosmic antiheroes? We don’t expect the whole gang to perish, seeing as this ending would be pretty similar to the devastation that closed Avengers: Infinity War, but could one of them meet their fate in the movie? Perhaps, as it just wouldn’t be a Guardians film without a heartbreaking death at the end, right?
ComicBook.com certainly thinks this is a possibility and that it could be Rocket who goes. The biggest reason why he’s the prime contender is that the raccoon has had arguably the most transformative character arc of any of them. He started as an obnoxious loner who actively pushed his friends away. By Endgame, however, he’s become a true hero and a team player and we can now believe he’d lay down his life to protect others.
There’s also the fact that Rocket’s the only one of the team who hasn’t yet died in the MCU. Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis and Groot were all dusted in the Snap, Gamora was murdered by her father and Nebula killed her own past self to protect her sister. It might be hard to come up with a death for any of these guys that doesn’t feel like deja vu, but bringing Rocket’s story to a close in a tragic way would no doubt reduce us all to blubbering wrecks.
And let’s not forget that Gunn said he’s most looking forward to continuing Rocket’s arc now that he’s back on board Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Of course, nothing’s confirmed just yet, but it sounds like there’s a good chance that we’ll be hooked on a sad feeling when the threequel finally arrives in theaters.