Warning: SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are ahead!
While James Gunn’s time with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is over, and the film series itself also appears to be finished, we aren’t done spending time with at least one of the team’s members. After Vol. 3’s end credits scene played, onscreen text was shown reading “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return,” meaning Chris Pratt’s character will be back at some point, though Marvel Studios hasn’t announced yet where or how this will happen. That said, Gunn has shared what he’d like to see next from Star-Lord following the conclusion of the Guardians trilogy.
After Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon and their allies defeated The High Evolutionary, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s ending saw the man also known as Peter Quill returning to Earth and reuniting with his grandfather after more than 30 years. Although he briefly returned to Earth in Avengers: Endgame (and couldn’t wait to leave), this marks the first time Peter has spent extensive time on his homeworld since he was kidnapped by Youndu at eight years old. As such, Peter’s out of touch with how things are done on Earth these days, and Gunn would love to see this explored in a standalone Star-Lord project. The filmmaker said the following on the Vol. 3 commentary track (via Comicbook.com):
Chris and I, forever, have talked about how great it would be to do a Legendary Star-Lord movie, a story with Star-Lord on Earth trying to adapt to the environment of Earth in the same way that somebody else might try to adapt to the alien environment of outer space. He’s a fish out of water in just kind of…regular water. So I can’t wait to see it.
This sounds similar to what Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers, a.k.a. the first Captain America, went through when he was frozen in 1945 and was thawed nearly 70 years later, which obviously made for quite a cultural shock. In Star-Lord’s case though, he’s been conscious for the entirety of his time away from Earth, he just hasn’t been keeping tabs on Earth’s development. That’s why his pop culture references are ‘80s-themed, like Footloose and Knight Rider, and why he was oblivious to the Zune’s true popularity status. So while Star-Lord is a whiz at traveling around the cosmos and combatting alien threats, living on Earth will take some getting used to, and both Gunn and Pratt are game for this to be shown onscreen.
Given that James Gunn is now keeping busy co-running DC Studios with Peter Safran (with his many duties on that front including writing and directing Superman: Legacy), he won’t have any say in what Marvel Studios does next with Peter Quill. However, between that “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return” tease and Gunn saying he “can’t wait to see” this kind of story, it makes me wonder if he talked this story out with Marvel Studios and managed to get it into development before leaving the company. Though a Star-Lord movie would be an obvious choice in accomplishing this, I could also see Peter Quill getting accustomed to Earth life unfolding within a Special Presentation released exclusively to Disney+ subscribers, just like Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
For now, the details of Star-Lord’s MCU return are being kept secret, but we’ll let you know once that changes. In the meantime, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now available to purchase digitally, and the next entry on the upcoming Marvel movies slate is The Marvels this November.