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Credit: Marvel StudiosIt will soon be time to say goodbye to the Guardians of the Galaxy as we know them. The fan-favorite ragtag team of misfits has gained a large Marvel fan following since their on-screen inception in 2014.
There are still plenty of chances to see them, though, in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe pipeline. In fact, secrets about the Guardians are so tightly under lock and key that one star of the blockbuster franchise was caught by the infamous Marvel police.
Director James Gunn first brought the Guardians of the Galaxy (and an Infinity Stone) into the MCU timeline during Phase Three of Kevin Feige’s expanding saga. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) was followed up by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) with both feature films starring a stellar ensemble cast made up of Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon), Groot (Vin Diesel), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), Karen Gillan (Nebula), and Michael Rooker (Yondu), with the sophomore outing also introducing Pom Klementieff as Mantis.
Following the Guardians sequel, and after controversial social media posts resurfaced, Gunn was fired by Disney, leaving the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy unclear and uncertain. The cast rallied behind their director and Gunn was eventually reinstated — not before Warner Bros. managed to snap him up to helm the DC Extended Universe movie, The Suicide Squad (2021) — with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 now slated for a 2023 release.
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While 2023 may feel a long way off to reunite with the Guardians, most of the cast will appear in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) this summer alongside Chris Hemsworth (Thor Odinson), Natalie Portman (Jane Foster/Mighty Thor), and Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), seemingly bringing the Asgardians of the Galaxy — as coined by Thor in Avengers: Endgame (2019) — to life. The disparate misfits also joined the ensemble Marvel movie, Avengers: Infinity War (2018), going to war against Thanos (Josh Brolin) along with the entire universe of superheroes seen thus far in the MCU.
Then, the Guardians will also appear in their own festive special on Disney+ — The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022). Although, interestingly, some of the popular Guardians team will be notably missing. In fact, Bradley Cooper has alluded to his time as Rocket being up, choosing instead to focus on self-written projects. Cooper’s comments came after Dave Bautista suggested that Guardians 3 would be the end of his own character. And just weeks ago, Gunn confirmed it was the end of this current Guardians era.
Hold the tissues, though, because it is still a long way off and the Guardians have a lot to go through before fans reach that point — including, rather surprisingly, escaping from Marvel “jail”.
Gamora star, Zoe Saldana — who is also set to reprise her role as Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar 2 (2022) this December — revealed that she had been contacted by “Marvel security” following, what seems to have been, a breach in the Marvel secrecy protocol. As fans have gathered over the years since the MCU’s inception with Jon Favreau’s Iron Man (2008), Marvel Studios is intensely secretive. Yes, there is an actual secret “Marvel police”. As Clerks (1994) creator and well-known nerd, Kevin Smith, said last year:
“There is a Marvel secret police who, when things are being discovered, not only sweat down the departments, so when leaks happen, [they] sweat the departments to find where the leaks sprang from, they also deal in subterfuge. We know this in as much as you’ll go to auditions and read lines that have nothing to do with what you’re auditioning for. They’re well practiced at the art of like ‘look over here,’ they like to keep their secrets over there.”
It seems that Saldana herself got tied up with Feige’s secret task force after posting to Instagram last night, before quickly rectifying and letting fans know Marvel security had caught her out.
Had to take this down before because of Marvel Security. Now that I covered what they don’t want you to see, let’s just focus on the Mate!!!!! #mate #gamora #bebe
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Many fans are yearning to know what secrets are kept on the pages of what appears to be the potential Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 script. It is not the first time that a Marvel star has crossed the secretive franchise police. Tom Holland is of course renowned for spilling spoilers while recently, Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) star, Evangeline Lilly (Hope van Dyne/Wasp) seemingly confirmed the return of Darren Cross/Yellowjacket actor, Corey Stoll, for Peyton Reed’s upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) in a now-removed Instagram post.
While the end of the Guardians team is approaching, fans can rest knowing that the characters will likely live on in projects like the animated series, What If…?. Audiences saw Gamora — voiced here by Cynthia McWilliams — arrive in the finale, setting up her own alternate universe storyline for the upcoming What If…? Season 2. Unfortunately, the second season of the Multiversal series will no longer debut this year as suggested.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will also star Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord, and Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri.
What do you think Marvel security forced Zoe Saldana to hide? Let us know in the comments down below!