Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is said to be the swan song for the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise. But what if it wasn’t? After all, new members replaced the old guard after they decided to part ways at the end of the film. Not to mention, the torch of the group’s leadership was passed down to Rocket Raccoon. Interestingly, James Gunn chimed into the conversation about the future of the franchise. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t look too good.
Fans on Twitter discussed the possibility of a part 4 for this superhero franchise after someone told Gunn on Twitter that they saw the film 12 times. This led to discussions about creating another Guardians of the Galaxy film. However, if that were the case, Gunn has confirmed that not only he won’t be making it, but there would also be new actors. But the most important part was that it wouldn’t be called “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4.“
It kind of makes sense that they’re not going to call the next installment (if there would be one) ‘Vol. 4’ since some of the cast members left. Not to mention, while Marvel Studios have the right to do whatever they want with its IP, it would be disrespectful to Gunn since he wrote and directed the entire film franchise to date.
This is also further cemented when a fan asked if Vol. 4 would ever come to fruition. Gunn replied by saying that there isn’t a “real chance” for a fourth installment to be made.
While the Guardians of the Galaxy won’t return for another installment, Vol. 3‘s post-credit scene teased that we’re going to see more of Star Lord in the future. Also, there is a chance that the new Guardians team could return in a future Marvel project, but evidently not as a continuation of the exact franchise Gunn established.
Perhaps the best course of action, if you want to see these heroes for the final time, is to watch Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 12 times. The film is now showing in theaters.