At Marvel’s Hall H panel at today’s San Diego Comic-Con, writer-director James Gunn premiered the first look at Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which he said would be the end of the story for the sci-fi team. Gunn stated to the crowd, “I’m sorry, some stories have an end. It doesn’t mean everybody dies.”
The trailer reveals that Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) is now working with the Ravagers. Gamora doesn’t remember anything about her time with the Guardians. While Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) clearly still loves Gamora, she tells him that the Gamora that he loved is gone, that she isn’t the person he loved. But of course, the trailer also included Gunn’s sense of humor, as the rest of the Guardians overhear Peter’s embarrassing heart-to-heart with Gamora.
The trailer, which is soundtracked by an epic version of The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” (with lyrics like “Do you realize that everyone you know someday will die” really having increased resonance in this final adventure for the Guardians), introduces new characters and shows where our old favorites are now. In terms of the new characters, the trailer featured a first look at Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, who walked throughout the crowds of Hall H, stating that he takes disgusting creatures (like the people in the audience) and turns them into something less revolting, followed by proclaiming “I can’t wait to dissect all of you and see what I learn!” Also announced at the panel was that Borat Subesequent Moviefilm and Bodies Bodies Bodies actress Maria Bakalova will be playing Cosmo the Spacedog.
But Gunn also stated that a major part of the third installment of Guardians would be exploring where Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) came from, with Gunn saying that Rocket has “got to be the saddest creature in the universe, and that’s what this is partly about.” Karen Gillan says that Nebula is now finding herself now that Thanos is gone, and that she’s finding her own personality, while Pom Klementieff says that Mantis is still quirky and weird, and that in the new film, she shows a lot of confidence and some fighting skills.
In attendance for the presentation were Pratt, Poulter, Gillan, Klementieff, Sean Gunn (Kraglin Obfonteri), and Bakalova, all of whom were quite emotional by seeing the trailer for the first time, and (supposedly) saying goodbye to this series of films. Sean Gunn said that the “most rewarding part of it has been working with my brother.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be part of Marvel’s Phase 5, as Kevin Feige showed off Marvel’s plans for the rest of Phase 4, the schedule for Phase 5, teased some of the films coming out in Phase 6, and said that Phases 4-6 are called The Multiverse Saga.
The Guardians of the Galaxy were last seen in this month’s Thor: Love and Thunder, and are the focus of EPCOT’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which opened in May of this year. The Guardians will also return before Vol. 3 with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which was filmed during the production of Vol. 3. While no mention was made of the Holiday Special at the Marvel Comic-Con panel, it is reportedly supposed to release this holiday season. Groot will also receive his own series of animated shorts with I Am Groot, coming to Disney+ on August 10.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes to theaters on May 5, 2023.
