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Credit: Marvel Studios***THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3***
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, directed by James Gunn in his final Marvel universe project and scored by John Murphy, is set to be the last ride for the Marvel Studios’ Guardians, with some (if not most, or even all) of its members bidding the MCU farewell. The film slated for May 5, 2023 is the follow-up to the Guardians’ latest adventure in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, a Marvel Studios Special Presentation on Disney+, which follows the space-roving team from their appearances in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and the Avengers series of films within the Infinity Saga.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by The Walt Disney Company’s Marvel Studios is (now ex) Marvel director James Gunn’s farewell to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film stars a multitude of familiar faces who reprise their roles from the previous Guardians of the Galaxy films, the first Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). Fans will see gun-toting human (and former-part-Celestial), Peter Quill as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), daughters of Thanos, Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), tree-like alien Groot (Vin Diesel), fluffy-yet-deadly Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), revenge-bound Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), empath Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ravager Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn), Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), and even Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova).
These space-roving heroes come face-to-face with the all-gold Adam Warlock, played by newcomer Will Poulter, as well as Elizabeth Debicki’s Ayesha. Chukwudi Iwuji plays the High Evolutionary in the new Marvel movie flanked by crony Theel (Nico Santos), while Daniela Melchior plays Ura. Additionally, Linda Cardellini debuts as Lylla the Otter, Asim Chaudhry as Teefs the Walrus and Mikaela Hoover as Floor the Bunny — all ex-cellmates and friends of Rocket’s.
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How many post-credit scenes does Guardians 3 have?
Well, the answer is that there is a mix of mid-credit and post-credit scenes!
In total, there are two scenes that take place after the movie is technically over, with both moments giving audiences a huge insight into the future of the Guardians. They tease at potential character returns, as well as further events within the MCU and the Avengers storyline that will likely culminate in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (2025) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2026). Although currently, it seems that those 2025 and 2026 Avengers dates might not ultimately be adhered to.
The mid-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Everyone, meet the new Guardians of the Galaxy.
The mid-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 shows us a reformed group of Guardians under the Captainship of one Rocket Raccoon — yup, he identifies as Rocket Raccoon now — with the new Guardians all seated on some rocks discussing Earth-music.
In this scene, the new team is clearly shown to consist of Rocket Raccoon, Adam Warlock, Kraglin Obfonteri, Cosmo the Dog, Blurp, and a massively grown-up Groot. A little girl from the group of the High Evolutionary’s rescued science experiments sits with them, whom the group refer to as Phyla, played by Kai Zen. This character is Phyla-Vell, an extremely interesting character reveal, as Phyla-Vell ultimately takes on the mantle of Captain Marvel in the Marvel Comics.
During this conversation, all of them, including Adam, have a lot to say about Britney Spears, Garth Brooks, and Korn — before Rocket confirms that his favorite is still Peter Quill’s iconic intro song from Guardians 1, “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone. They sit in a rocky desert, on a planet inhabited by pink-faced aliens who appear deathly afraid of something — and as the strains of the music that started the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise kick in, the new Guardians get up and start charging towards the group of stampeding alien monsters coming their way.
The post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
This scene shows a returned Star-Lord among his own kind on Earth, as Peter Quill sits with his grandpa eating cereal in a “Freakies” T-shirt. He’s complaining about mowing the lawn, and about who appears to be his grandpa’s new partner’s kid — presumably his uncle-in-law — describing him as a lazy “45-year-old” guy who sits around and doesn’t do chores.
Quill’s grandpa is seen reading a local newspaper from the town of Saint Charles, Missouri (where Quill and his family are from), whose front page boasts an article about Kevin Bacon detailing an “Alien Abduction” he experienced — a clear nod to the Kevin Bacon-centric The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).
As the sounds of Quill continuing to eat cereal continue in the background, a white screen comes up bearing the words, “THE LEGENDARY STAR-LORD WILL RETURN”, effectively teasing Chris Pratt’s return to the MCU at some point as Peter Quill.
With the end of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team comes an intensely bittersweet feeling for many Marvel fans. It’s safe to say that without these characters that reshaped the MCU with James Gunn’s iconic and fun-loving style, the Marvel Cinematic Universe would never have gotten to where it is today. Hopefully, even as the Guardians’ ship sails, Gunn’s work over at DC Studios for the DC Universe (DCU) and his good relationship with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige could mean some insane crossovers between Marvel and DC in the future — that could be the stuff of nerd dreams.
What do you think about the Guardians 3 post-credit scenes? Share your thoughts in the comments below!