Credit: Marvel StudiosMarvel Studios could still bring back one Guardians of the Galaxy character – but she may look a little bit different than you remember.
Last year’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023) was monumental for many reasons, one of which is that it served as the swansong for multiple actors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
While it was already widely known that writer and director James Gunn would exit the MCU for good after the film’s premiere in order to serve as the new creative head for DC Studios, several Guardians of the Galaxy stars revealed in the months before and after its release that they planned on saying goodbye to Marvel.
That includes Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), and Zoe Saldaña (Gamora), the latter of whom recently doubled down on her decision to leave the franchise.
“I think that she is [gone for good] for me,” Saldaña said in an upcoming episode of The Playlist’s Discourse podcast when asked if she was “done” with playing Gamora.
However, she also added that she hopes Marvel isn’t done with the character – going so far as to encourage the studio to bring Gamora back.
“I don’t think Gamora has gone for good,” she said. “I would think it would be a huge loss for Marvel if they didn’t find a way to bring back the Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s just such a fan-favorite group of misfits, you know?”
Later, Saldaña added that she “would be the first one in the first row to sort of celebrate when the Guardians of the Galaxy come back.”
Guardians of the Galaxy is one of Marvel’s most profitable franchises, with its third installment serving as Marvel’s highest-grossing project in 2023 by a significant margin. While the end credits of the film confirmed that Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) will return in the future, there’s no word on whether we can expect Gamora to make a reappearance. If she does, Saldaña’s words confirm that Marvel will be forced to recast the character – something the MCU has only done on a handful of occasions in the past.
During Saldaña’s stint as Gamora, the character defected from her adoptive father, Thanos (Josh Brolin), in order to join the Guardians of the Galaxy. She later fell in love with Pratt’s Star-Lord, only to be sacrificed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) so he could gain the Soul Stone.
Saldaña returned as a version of Gamora from an alternate timeline in both Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 (2023), the latter of which saw her find a new family with the Ravagers, despite Peter Quill’s best efforts to turn her into the former version of herself.
Gamora’s story wrapped up neatly enough to not desperately require a recast. However, Marvel being Marvel – and the Multiverse being as vast and complicated as it is – we wouldn’t rule out a new actress going green and saving the galaxy in the future.
Would you mind if Marvel recast Gamora to bring the character back? Let us know in the comments!