Who Will Die in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’? Our Best Guesses

After debuting in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and on the silver screen in general in 2014, the team of Guardians of the Galaxy has quickly grown out of B-list superheroes to one of the most known teams that can be found on the pages of Marvel Comics. James Gunn is the person we can thank for that. Just like Guardians, Gunn has also gained widespread recognition for his work on the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

Following the positive response and satisfying box-office results of the original movie, the sequel, titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, followed in 2017, and after appearing in Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder, Guardians will finally conclude their trilogy and their MCU journey in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is set to be released this May.

We have already seen two trailers for this 32nd movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and just like James Gunn promised, we are expecting laughs but also a lot of emotions from this movie. This movie can be called Guardians of the Galaxy: Endgame because that’s exactly what this movie is. When you’re gearing up for the final chapter in such a long-running series of movies, we can expect to say goodbye to at least one character with tears in our eyes.

James Gunn has shown with adult Groot in the first movie and Yondu in the sequel that he knows how to make an emotional impact at the movie’s climax. He has also previously teased that out of the entire titular team, “not everyone” will survive to see the end of this movie. So, while we’re waiting for Guardians’ final chapter, he’s our theory on which Guardians could tragically finish their MCU journey.

Rocket Raccoon

When we look at fan theories, Rocket Raccoon is probably the top “candidate,” so to say, to finish his MCU path tragically. The amount of those theories has increased even more after the release of the first trailer, in which we see what the movie will show us, Rocket’s origin story and his history with Herbert Edgar Wyndham, also known as High Evolutionary, who is one of the movie’s villains, played by Chukwudi Iwuji.

It is known that Rocket is a genetically enhanced creature known as Subject 89P13, and all that was High Evolutionary’s doing. We still need to see how will that encounter between Rocket and basically his maker will look, but the way the story has been set up, it wouldn’t be surprising if we say goodbye to Rocket with tears in our eyes.

Drax the Destroyer

There are several reasons why fans think that Drax might die in the final installment of the Guardians trilogy. The first reason is that the actor David Bautista confirmed that he’s almost done with the role after this movie. Bautista is a former wrestler, and although he was a great comic relief in the MCU, he recently revealed that he wants to do more dramatic roles. Given what we have seen in Blade Runner 2049 and Dune, we think he’s really got a knack for that too.

The second reason is the way his story in the MCU is handled. He was introduced in the first as the prisoner in the interstellar prison facility known as Kyln. He was looking for revenge against Ronan the Accuser, who was responsible for the deaths of Ovette and Camaria, Drax’s wife and daughter. After Ronan was defeated, Drax said that his next goal was to kill Thanos, and following the Mad Titan’s defeat in the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame, Drax’s main purpose in this whole story seems to be completed now.

It’s not known what his role in Vol. 3 will be, but Drax might make some kind of ultimate sacrifice for his friends, and killing him in some heroic way would kind of bring his story full closure because then he could be with his deceased wife and daughter again. It maybe sounds too poetic, but we’ve seen plenty of that in the movies before.

Nebula

Karen Gillan’s Nebula, Gamora’s adopted sister and Thanos’ adopted father, started as the villain in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Still, her character has kept growing with each new movie. She had one of the crucial roles in Avengers: Endgame (where she even managed to kill herself and survive, don’t overthink this), and now she’s ready for the final chapter.

While Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord is adamant about finding Gamora after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Nebula will certainly have a huge role in that search because, well, it’s her sister we’re talking about. When you have that kind of storyline ready, you can’t bear the feeling that she could sacrifice her life for her sister once they find her. Of course, there’s a chance that it could happen the other way around as well, but Gamora was already killed once before, and we strongly believe that she and Star-Lord will find their happily ever after.

We are worried about these three Guardians the most while we’re anticipating the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. We’ll come back here after the movie to see how right or wrong we were.