DC’s The Flash will now open one week earlier than previously expected, moving to June 16, 2023. The film, which was originally slated to hit theaters on March 23, 2018, is now on its seventh release date since being announced.
The Flash movie is moving up by one week and will now open on 06/16/23
The film has been a considerable source of controversy as star Ezra Miller was at the center of a series of increasingly bizarre scenarios. Amid these scenarios, rumors have swirled about a potential recasting but at the same time, early screenings of the film have been generally positively received.
According to director Andy Muschetti, the film will be an adaptation of the iconic DC Comic story Flashpoint, though not a one-to-one page-to-screen translation. Principal photography for The Flash ran from April through October of 2021. The most recent move gives the DC film one more week to breathe ahead of the release of Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny, which is slated for a June 30th debut.
At this point, Zoe Saldana is a superhero veteran. The actress has been playing Gamora, reformed daughter of Thanos and the universe’s deadliest assassin, since 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Since debuting as the character, Saldana has gone on to reprise her role in four more films, with the latest effort being Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – next year’s grand conclusion to Marvel Studios’ space-faring trilogy. Her future with the company past this point is currently unknown, though she has quickly become a favorite among fans who would probably love if she stuck around.
While the thespian herself has yet to comment on what comes after Vol. 3, a recent appearance on the hit YouTube series Hot Ones shed some light on how she feels working for a massive studio like Marvel. Speaking on her unique experience portraying an alien warrior in multiple blockbuster movies, she explained:
When you work for Marvel, it feels like a cult, everybody’s like, ‘What’s going on? I’m dressed in green after four hours in makeup, we must be shooting something, what is it?’ [Laughs] That has advantages and disadvantages, the advantages are you savor the surprise for the end, and you don’t ruin it and the audience is able to have an amazing adventure when they go to the movies to watch it. The disadvantage is mainly for the actor, because you don’t know what you’re getting, you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t know what you’re saying, you don’t know what’s going to happen, and that can be a little nerve-wracking.
Zoe Saldana
Many performers who’ve played in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sandbox have spoken on their unconventional style of filmmaking in the past. The studio tends to film several projects at once, and enjoys keeping as much of their work secret as possible. As a result, actors are often left in the dark about scenes they’re not in, and sometimes aren’t even sure which project they’re filming for. Saldana lays out the pros and cons of this system pretty well, and her joking spirit seems to indicate the process isn’t actually all that bad. Perhaps just a tad unusual for those more accustomed to doing one thing at a time.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5th, 2023, but Saldana can next be seen reprising an entirely different blockbuster role when Avatar: The Way of Water arrives on December 16th.
You read that right, ToeJam and Earl are back baby. It seems that Amazon Studios has already set its eyes on the iconic SEGA franchise from the 90s as a feature film. Stephen Curry’s Unanimous Media and Story Kitchen are currently attached to bring the film to life about alien rappers that are looking for a cure. No, not a cure for the usual disease but one that destroys their home planet’s rhythm, funk, and groove. The following description has been shared for the film:
Earth, their legends tell them, is the Paradise where the music that created their culture originated. Unfortunately for our heroes, not only do they wreck their ship, but they find that Earth is . . . well, not the haven they expected. But the music – that part was true. So begins their quest to find as much of that music as they can in the hope of saving their planet, and maybe ours as well.
Amos Vernon and Nunzio Randazoo, who recently penned Hotel Transylvania 4 and Disney+’s Superfudge, are set to write the film’s script with Story Kitchen’s Dmitri M. Johnsona nd Dan Jevons set to produe the project. They are joined by Curry, Erick Peyton, and Mike Goldberg. It’s unclear if this film will be an animated film or a live-action/animation hybrid given ToeJam and Earl’s very alien design from the original gaming trilogy. Whatever tehy have planned, it’s definitely crazy to think we live in a time where ToeJam and Earl will be a film to begin with.
Batgirl never made it to theaters but has somehow become one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s most talked-about films. The film, which was directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, was scrapped earlier this year before it had a chance to release and has since developed into one of superhero cinema’s greatest mysteries. While canceling movies isn’t unusual for Hollywood, it is a bit strange to dump a project after it’s completed filming, and fans are desperate to know what they would have seen had Batgirl been made public. Its cast, led by promising newcomer Leslie Grace, featured the grand return of Michael Keaton as Batman and a redemptive villain role for internet darling Brendan Fraser, who is in the midst of an immense career comeback.
With so much untapped potential in a single project, many hope that Batgirl might one day receive the Zack Snyder’s Justice League treatment and get its time in the spotlight via streaming release. The flames of these desires were stoked by the news that a private screening of the film was held for cast and crew on the Warner Bros. Discovery lot, lending credibility to the idea that a mostly-finished version of Batgirl could exist somewhere in storage. Unfortunately, during a recent conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Arbi and Fallah revealed this was not the case. Speaking candidly, Arbi explained that the footage shown to those involved with the film was totally unfinished, and not even their latest edit.
While the duo shares the hope that a final cut of the movie can eventually be released, they also say there’s a long way to go before that happens:
We still needed additional photography, there were a lot of scenes missing, and the VFX was not there. I don’t know if [Warner Bros.] are really gonna go for that, but we’ll see, sometimes we think it’s fucked, but sometimes it’s like … maybe!
Adil El Arbi
As previously mentioned, the studio was in a similar boat with Zack Snyder‘s version of Justice League after releasing a heavily edited take by Joss Whedon in theaters instead. Intense internet scrutiny lead to WBD spending quite a bit of additional money to complete Snyder‘s vision and drop it on HBO Max. The payoff wasn’t as large as anticipated, however, which may impact Batgirl‘s odds of a second chance.
For Arbi and Fallah, this experience of losing a filmed project and not getting it back has been somewhat unreal. The former reminisced on the unfortunate circumstances of their last few years before commenting on Batgirl‘s status:
You’ve got to imagine, we’re two fanboys, and for one second we were in the Batman universe, following in the footsteps of Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan, and then it was just like we woke up and it was a dream.
Adil El Arbi
Ever upbeat, Arbi does manage to find a silver lining amongst all the disappointment:
This is something that never happened before, so we’ve kind of become part of movie history without even trying!
Adil El Arbi
The duo is now working on their next film, a political thriller titled Rebel.
The emotionally charged trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has fans wondering which members of the team will kick the bucket when the film hits theaters next Summer. Whatever the case, one thing will be sure: the team will never be the same again. Whether or not there will be more adventures for a new iteration of the team is a decision that Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, and his trusted Parliament have to make but in-universe, Guardians or not, the galaxy still needs heroes. Fortunately, because Marvel Studios has woefully underdeveloped the cosmic corner of the MCU, one of the galaxy’s greatest heroes-if not THE greatest-is ready to come off the bench and join the fight.
Though it has long been a staple of Marvel Comics, Marvel Studios has not invested much effort into building out the cosmic side of the MCU outside of James Gunn’s work on Guardians of the Galaxy. In their eagerness to bring Carol Danvers into a starring role, Marvel Studios skipped right past the tales of the comic’s first cosmic hero: Mar-Vell. Though the character was present in Captain Marvel, an alternate path with a more fully developed Mar-Vell as a true hero could have changed much of the cosmic landscape. Instead, what exists now is a terrifyingly bland, basic and underdeveloped idea of one of Marvel Comics’ most important conflicts: The Kree-Skrull War. The Kree are sorely misrepresented compared to their comic book counterparts and one of their greatest warriors, Ronan the Accuser, was egregiously done dirty and taken off the board in Guardians of the Galaxy. Their “war” with the Skrulls has been relegated to a few scuffles and Annette Bening’s Mar-Vell’s role in it was reduced to a glorified cameo. Yes, the Skrulls are due back for more in Secret Invasion, but which Skrulls? Gravik? How about a Power Skrull or two? Where’s Paibok? For fans of old-school Marvel Comics cosmic adventures, Marvel Studios adaptations of these characters and stories has been disappointing.
Past is prologue, of course, and even in a medium that’s easily “retconable” it’s going to be pretty tough to undo the stories told of Mar-Vell and Ronan. Maybe Power Skrulls and Super Skrulls can show up down the road. Maybe the portrayal of the Kree can be improved (at this point it’s the equivalent of polishing a turd, however). Maybe…but it’s not in changing the mistakes of the past that Marvel Studios can improve its cosmic storytelling. No, the path to redemption lies ahead and rests on the shoulders of The Man Called Nova.
In March of 2022, a trade report confirmed what many had been discussing for a long time: Marvel Studios is developing a Nova solo project. Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada was brought on board to get the gears turning on what many insiders believe will be a Disney Plus project. If everything were to go according to plan, that project could go into production in 2023, meaning it would be ready to stream in 2024. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 wrapping up what’s hopefully Marvel Studios’ first act of cosmic theater, MCU audiences would find themselves being introduced to the character who should rightfully be the star of the second act just about a year later. Though fans of the character have been pining for his debut for years, Richard Rider couldn’t find a better time to join the party.
Mar-Vell and the Kree-Skrull War became the backbone of most every Marvel Comics’ story for decades. However, in 2004 Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning launched Marvel’s modern cosmic line that was comprised of a series of large-scale events unlike anything ever attempted by the publisher before. For the better part of a decade, cosmic fans hand their hands full as Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, War of Kings, Realm of Kings and The Thanos Imperative hit stores in rapid succession. These stories introduced a new generation of readers to some of Marvel’s most obscure heroes and villains (including the Guardians of the Galaxy team that James Gunn adapted for the MCU) but one hero found himself at the center of nearly every one of those stories: Richard Rider.
Though he’d been around for nearly 30 years at the time, Rider had never taken center stage as he did during Abnett and Lanning’s epic run. Save another hero. Save a planet. Save the entire galaxy. Nova did it all, ultimately at the cost of his life. The Silver Surfer may have had more adventures than Richard Rider, but it’s hard to argue that Rider didn’t become Marvel’s greatest cosmic hero during that time. Now, with the MCU’s Guardians set to be reeling from whatever comes their way in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Rider could find himself getting the same treatment in the MCU.
Somewhat serendipitously, the stage has been perfectly set for Nova to follow the Guardians though most of his heroics in the comics preceded their assembly. Should Marvel Studios be keen to follow the DnA blueprint, characters such as Annihilus, Blastaar and Kl’rt and alien races like the Shi’ar and the Phalanx would likely play their roles. None of those characters were available to Marvel Studios until after the Dinsey-Fox merger of 2019. So by postponing Nova’s MCU debut, whether intentionally or not, Marvel Studios made it possible to introduce Richard Rider and have him enter his finest hour fairly quickly. As fun as some of the older Nova books used to be, the 2000’s version of the character is the kind of hero the MCU has routinely developed and one that fans will respond to.
Of course, there’s the unfortunate possibility that Marvel Studios might make familiar missteps wth Nova. In their eagerness to spotlight Carol Danvers, they took away from Mar-Vell; the same could happen here by choosing to jump straight to Sam Alexander over Richard Rider. In both instances, properly developing the first character (Mar-Vell and Rider, respectively) would only serve to strengthen the legacy characters (Danvers and Alexander). Marvel Studios has a chance at getting it right this time with Rider and the blueprint couldn’t be any easier to follow. Get out of your own way and let The Human Rocket save the universe…and the cosmic corner of your MCU.
By now, the sudden and surprising cancellation of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Batgirl film is the stuff of Hollywood legend. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, with the likes of Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, and Brendan Fraser in starring roles, the movie was nearly complete by the time of its now-infamous canning at the hands of new WBD CEO David Zaslav. To make matters worse, the creative duo behind the project were reportedly unaware of its demise before the news broke online, and found out they were unexpectedly unemployed along with everybody else. However, despite the unsavory circumstances surrounding Batgirl‘s end, it would appear Arbi and Fallah are still game to return to WBD’s world of capes and crusaders.
Speaking exclusively with The Hollywood Reporter, the directors – also known for their work on the hit sequel Bad Boys for Life and Marvel Studios’ Ms. Marvel – revealed that their feelings aren’t hard enough to prevent another collaboration with the studio that blindsided them. Asked directly, Fallah explained a second job with Warner Bros. would come with a very understandable condition:
Yeah, we’d still work with them. But on the condition that the movie comes out. I mean, if Warner says, ‘Do you want to do the next Batman or Superman?,’ of course we’ll say yes. Just so long as the movie comes out!
Bilall Fallah
As for which project specifically the duo would like to take on, a recent post from Arbi on his Instagram stories might hold the answer. Over the weekend, the creative threw some fan art of the cult classic animated series Batman Beyond on his social media with no caption, causing many of his followers to believe he might secretly be working on something inspired by the show.
Batgirl Director, Adil El Arbi, shared on Instagram some Batman Beyond fan art by artist WeeArts 🦇 pic.twitter.com/YwX7QyC4th
In his THR interview, Arbi stated this was not the case, but that he and Fallah would not be opposed to helming an adaptation if an offer was on the table:
You know, maybe in the future … when Batman is not being made by Matt Reeves … Batman Beyond is really super cool. And I just saw that and thought that’s really badass. So who knows? Maybe in the future one day if they ask us to do that, we wouldn’t say no. But you can dream, right?
Ail El Arbi
Batman Beyond was an animated series that ran on WB Kids from 1999 until 2001. It served as a sequel to Bruce Timm‘s iconic Batman: The Animated Series set decades into a sci-fi future where an elderly Bruce Wayne is now retired and mentoring his successor, a young man named Terry McGinnis. Arbi and Fallah have already convinced Michael Keaton to play this version of Wayne once, so perhaps they might one day be able to do it again. Until then, the duo will remain hard at work on their next film – Rebel, a “pacey action thriller about two Muslim Belgian brothers dealing with identity alongside ISIS radicalization and recruitment during the war in Syria“.
If you’re an MCU fan, you can never have enough Cox. With appearances in Spider-Man: No Way Home and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law behind him and production on Daredevil: Born Again set to get underway early in the new year, Charlie Cox‘s Matt Murdock certainly seems to be a big part of the Multiverse Saga. The 18-episode Born Again looks to be the cornerstone of theMCU’s street-level stories with rumored appearances from such characters as Jon Bernthal’s Frank Castle, White Tiger and, potentially, Richard Fisk. As busy as filming 18 episodes should keep Cox in 2023, it sounds like he’s angling for a little more work anyway.
At an appearance at German Comic Con in Dortmund, Cox mentioned he’d like to see Daredevil show up in the strangest of MCU places: the currently untitled Deadpool and Wolverine film slated for a 2024 release.
I think because of the tone of our show, I think that there’s a place for Daredevil to show up in Deadpool. It would be really cool.
Charlie Cox
Charlie Cox says he would like to see Daredevil make an appearance in DEADPOOL 3.
“I think because of the tone of our show, I think that there’s a place for Daredevil to show up in Deadpool. It would be really cool.”
Cox’s comment about the tone of Daredevil: Born Again somehow meshing with that of Deadpool is incredibly interesting. While the lighter approach to the character in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law was refreshing, it doesn’t really seem in line with Deadpool’s sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek humor. Perhaps Cox knows a thing or two about what’s planned for the Deadpool film? One theory suggests that the film might be an adaptation of Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe and see the Merc With a Mouth “killing off” the Fox-verse, making it very multiversal. Could Daredevil: Born Again have some multiversal aspects to it as well?
This week, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige teased more mutants in the MCU’s near future. During the Q&A after the CCXP event showcasing Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked on if we can expect more mutants in the near future and he definitely seemed optimistic: “No, look, we’ve already met a few. There’s a new Mutant named Namor that you might’ve met recently. So, more to come.”
Of course, the head of the production company is not going to give away what we can expect. We do know that Deadpool 3 will give Hugh Jackman one more chance to play Wolverine; hopefully finally wearing his iconic outfit. And, there are many opportunities to slowly introduce various versions of these characters throughout upcoming projects. Now, we just have to wait and see if the X-Men will get their time int he spotlight or if they even existed throughout MCU’s history to begin with.
With little competition, it seems that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had no problem keeping its hold on the No. 1 spot with another $17.6M. That makes it the fourth weekend in a row; the first to do so since the release of Sony and Marvel Studios’ record-breaking Spider-Man: No Way Home. It did have some competition this weekend as David Harbour‘s Violent Night, a story about John Wick if he was Santa Clause, managed to pull in $13.3M over its premiere weekend, ahead of early projections.
Wakanda Forever now stands at $394M domestic and will definitely pass $400M and has a good chance at pulling in $450M by the end of its run. If the film will manage to hold that top spot in the next weekend depends on the return of Top Gun: Maverick which has been the only film so far to really outperform any expectation during 2022’s release. For those wondering if this means people are tired of superhero films: it had a pull with a long-dormant audience with its increase of older movie goers that may have generally been cautious ever since the pandemic hit and simply held a nostalgia for Tom Cruise and Top Gun. Good word-of-mouth did the rest.
Worldwide, Black Panther has already passed the $700M mark and proudly stands at $733M. It’s foreign tally of $339M is quite interesting as normally Marvel productions are bigger internationally than domestically though the split was similar with the original Black Panther release. The film is unlikely to pass the original’s run and a billion does seem far-fetched, more dependent on how long Marvel Studios can keep it in theaters at this point. Still, in the later $800M area seems possible but there’s some uncertainty if it can pull through with $900M; though Doctor Strange did surprise earlier this year as well.
Strange World is continuing to bomb as it is struggling quite a bit with only $4.9M taking in over the weekend and standing at a depressing $25.5M. With $42.3M worldwide, the film is likely to lose Disney more than $100M at this rate. Also to make a point regarding Top Gun earlier, Jonathan Majors and Adam Powell‘s Devotion didn’t quite become the same hit like Top Gun did earlier this year while trying to bandwagon off of its success with a similar style only set during the Korean War. It still did decently with a 12-day domestic of $13.8M, pulling in $2.8M this weekend.
Director James Gunn has promised an emotional ride for fans when they finally sit down to watch Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The film is set to act as the finale for the titular team and their time together in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as a goodbye from Gunn to his years working at Marvel Studios. A trailer for the threequel, which recently debuted at Brazil Comic Con, embraced the poignant tone set by the occasion and featured plenty of footage that seemed to hint at somebody not making it out of the film alive. The previous entries in the franchise have both been full of heartbreaking moments, the circumstances of which usually have something to do with a major character taking their last breath, and it would stand to reason Gunn wouldn’t finish off the trilogy without taking at least one more cast member with him.
With the future of the Guardians currently so up in the air, it feels like any one of the lovably dysfunctional, intergalactic misfits could end up biting the stardust. Nobody is truly safe, but it’s likely some are probably safer than others. Not every character feels quite as poised to end their on-screen journey, even if nothing is really off the table. As such, the situation begs for a ranking of the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy in order of their likelihood to face an untimely demise at the hands of Vol. 3.
Here’s how it all shakes out:
1. Rocket
This is the one everyone has been assuming for a while, and honestly, everyone has a good chance of being totally correct. While there’s been a lot of talk about certain characters “meeting their maker” by the end of Vol. 3, Bradley Cooper‘s Rocket will be the only one taking the phrase seriously. Gunn‘s trilogy capper is confirmed to explore the origins of Rocket in the MCU and will bring the anthropomorphic animal face-to-face with the man who created him – Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary. The film will deal with the fallout of this reunion and dig into its impact on the team as a whole, something that may feel familiar to fans of the franchise. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 pulled a similar move in expanding upon the origin of Michael Rooker‘s Yondu Udonta before killing him off in a soul-stirring sequence of self-sacrifice. At this point, it really feels like Gunn might do the same with Rocket in the follow-up.
To elaborate just a little further, Rocket has thus far enjoyed one of the most well-developed character arcs the MCU has been able to offer, and a definitive conclusion to that arc in Vol. 3 would be a natural way for the unlikely hero’s story to end. If that weren’t enough, Gunn himself has gone on record multiple times to state Vol. 3 would be a “send-off” for his favorite protagonist, repeating himself as recently as last month in an interview with Deadline:
The reason why I needed to finish this is because I love the character of Rocket more than any character I’ve ever dealt with before, and I needed to finish his story and that is what Volume 3 is about. I absolutely needed to do it, and I think we’ve done it in a spectacular way that I can’t wait for people to see.
James Gunn
It’s possible this is all one big ruse to hide the actual big death in the movie, but if that’s the case, it’s one of the better cons ever pulled by a director. This one feels too obvious.
2. Drax
There isn’t much story-wise that directly points to a coming expiration for Dave Bautista‘s Drax the Destroyer, but a few real-world instances have shot the character to the top half of the “probably going to die” list. To put it plainly, Bautista himself has been very open about his intention to leave Drax behind after Vol. 3, and with The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special fulfilling the dream of a Drax/Mantis project coming to life, Gunn has been able to do pretty much everything he’s publicly stated he wanted to do with the blood-loving, soft-hearted space warrior. Bautista, never one to mince words, has been referring to Vol. 3 as his last ride for a while now and even posted a farewell message on his Instagram back in May.
The only reason Drax isn’t a more surefire bet than Rocket is because there’s still a decent amount of comic book material the MCU could work with in the future. At this point, the films have not yet drawn from the comic return of his long-thought-deceased daughter in the form of Moondragon, which could prove to be a wonderful plotline for a future movie or series. However, that could simply be a surprise twist Gunn is hiding for Vol. 3, and if so, her appearance may seal Drax’s fate immediately. After all, Bautista‘s career is on the rise, with several other projects on his plate. He may be on board to leave the MCU on a high note. Also, #GoodbyeDrax doesn’t sound all that promising.
3. Nebula
Perhaps a sleeper pick for the film’s big passing, Karen Gillan‘s Nebula actually has evidence going against her survival both on the screen and off. Much like Rocket, Gillan‘s rough-and-tumble space pirate has undergone a bit of a transformation since audiences first saw her in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Nebula started as an antagonist for the titular heroes, but has since become a trusted member of the team, and even served as an impromptu Avenger for a brief period of time. Also like Rocket, Gunn has gone on record in the past to say Nebula’s dramatic development over the course of his three films has been planned from the very beginning. Standard knowledge of plot structure would imply that, if her story was conceptualized as having three parts, an end for the character is, at the very least, somewhere in sight.
Furthermore, both Gunn and his buddy, actor and comedian Seth Green, have stated that Vol. 3‘s script is quite heavy on Nebula. An increased amount of screen time in the last project a character is planned to appear in is, often, not a great sign for anyone hoping to see them continue living. Green specifically commented on a lot of the plot revolving around the relationship between Nebula and her sister, Gamora. If one of those two had to sacrifice themself for the other, as will be outlined later, there’s a higher chance of it being the former. Gillan herself may have also put a final nail in the Nebula coffin, taking a page from Bautista‘s book and giving her character a send-off on Instagram:
Sure, she says it’s possible this is Nebula’s “final chapter”, but at least she left a little room for hope at the beginning.
4. Star-Lord
What better way to close a trilogy than to kill off the main character? Of course, the answer is giving them a happy ending everyone can enjoy, but something like that might not carry the kind of gut-punch Gunn is aiming for with Vol. 3. Chris Pratt‘s Peter Quill, the self-proclaimed Star-Lord, has been the heart and soul of the Guardians since the franchise launched in 2014. He is, for all intents and purposes, the lead of the trilogy, which automatically puts him in contention for a big death to close it all off. This is especially true when one considers how willing Quill has been to die for his found family at the end of both previous films, and how absolutely heart-wrenching Gunn and company know it would be to have him meet his mother again in some sort of afterlife. Not saying that will happen literally, but the internet does love to make edits.
The major thing holding Peter back from the top of the list is the massive potential he holds for the future of the MCU’s cosmic storytelling. Even if he’s no longer a leader of the Guardians, Star-Lord is a central figure in most of the comics’ best intergalactic stories and is complex enough to transform for a new era in much the same way as Chris Hemsworth‘s Thor. It may feel like Quill is destined to end with the trilogy that made him a star(lord), but it might actually just be the conclusion of one book before another is opened. It seems just a little more likely that Pratt gets some time off from playing Peter before coming back as a changed man down the line.
5. Mantis
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special just gave Pom Klementieff‘s Mantis a pretty big emotional connection to the heart of the franchise’s story and did a great job of engraining her forever as a Guardians fan-favorite. While this is all well and good, they could also just be setting it up to hurt more when Mantis is offed by the end of Vol. 3. Truthfully, though, Mantis is probably safe. She’s a newer character to the franchise, with a lot of room left to explore. That doesn’t instantly save her from death, but it would make her a pretty good through line between the next iteration of the Guardians and the team that came before. Also, there isn’t much in the way of evidence to point toward curtains in Mantis’ near future. In fact, there’s more evidence going the other way, with Klementieff recently making an appearance on the D23 Inside Disney podcast and making a few comments that hint toward a continued existence in the MCU.
When asked if there would be more adventures for Mantis in a post-Vol. 3 world, the actress replied carefully, not giving anything away but not really hinting at a demise either:
I can’t say much because, you know, the movie’s going to be released a long time from now, in May. But what I can say is that, again, it’s going to be very funny but also extremely emotional. And it’s going to be, in some ways, you know, the end of a chapter, as the Guardians of the Galaxy family. So we’ll see what happens after, you know? It’s not like ‘over over’ but, you know, it’s still…it’s going to be different after.
Pom Klementieff
When asked a follow-up about starring in a Mantis solo project, Klemetieff responded, “Yes! Oh, that’d be fun for sure“. It doesn’t really sound like she’s expecting her journey to end in Vol. 3.
6. Gamora
Reader, Gamora has already died in the MCU. That’s the main argument to be made against Zoe Saldana‘s space assassin having a big, dramatic death in Vol. 3. Granted, one might be able to see the storytelling advantages of killing her off a second time. She means a whole lot to several members of the main group, and the idea of getting her back – against all odds – just to so quickly lose her again could work in the way of total devastation for fans and the film’s cast alike. It’s also possible that the team finds themselves in a situation where someone has to go, and Gamora volunteers herself knowing she’s displaced from her real timeline anyway. It’s just that all of that comes off as cheap on paper, and Gunn isn’t going for anything cheap in his final Marvel outing. Unless there’s a fantastic concept for a second Gamora death scene, it isn’t supremely likely that the creatives behind the Guardians double down on tears for Saldana.
7. Kraglin
One might assume Sean Gunn‘s Kraglin is disqualified from death in Vol. 3 because he’s not a big enough character to elicit the proper audience reaction, but that’s pretty silly thinking. At this point, everyone should have grasped the concept that no character is too small to bring tears to viewers’ eyes. Especially in James Gunn‘s hands. The real reason Kraglin is disqualified from death is that he’s the obvious future of the Ravagers, and he can’t perish before nailing down how to control that darned arrow. When Vol. 3 opens, Gamora will be in charge of the Ravagers, but there’s only a very tiny chance that is still true by the time credits roll. If she doesn’t remain as captain of the Ravagers, it only seems fitting that Kraglin finally ascend to his rightful place. This is the ending he deserves, and both Gunn brothers know it.
8. Groot
Vin Diesel‘s Groot will probably survive Vol. 3 on the same clause keeping Gamora alive, and that’s the simple fact that Gunn has already killed him off once before. The original Groot met a perfect and beautiful end during the climax of the first film, and it’s hard to imagine his son topping it at such a young age in Vol. 3. The more interesting plotline would be Groot finding his way in the galaxy without Rocket by his side, something that feels more and more bound to happen as the release date draws near.
9. Cosmo
After making a short cameo in the first film and landing a supporting role in the Holiday Special, Maria Bakalova‘s Cosmo will become an official member of the Guardians when Vol. 3 eventually lands in theaters. The thing is, there’s almost no way she dies in the movie. Not only is she essentially still a brand new character, who has massive potential as a founding member of the Guardians 2.0, but there is not a soul attending the premiere of Vol. 3 who wants to see the adorable talking dog eat it so fast? That seems harsh even for noted horror connoisseur James Gunn.
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Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
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Description
Duration
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
