Will Star-Lord Return to the Guardians of the Galaxy in the Future?
Director James Gunn once said that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would be the final run for the original Guardians of the Galaxy members, which means that we are set to see a new batch of Guardians. Of course, we know that all of the Guardians survived the movie’s events. But Peter Quill, AKA Star-Lord, left the team because he needed to do something important first. So, will Star-Lord return to the Guardians of the Galaxy in the future?
We don’t know what Marvel Studios has in store for Peter Quill in the future, but we know that his fate has not yet been sealed. That’s because it was said after the final post-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 that Star-Lord will return to the MCU.
Even though the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is still up in the air when it comes to what the MCU has in store for this ragtag group of misfits, we do know that Star-Lord’s story is not yet over and that there’s a good chance that he will appear in more MCU projects in the future. So, with that said, let’s look at whether or not Peter Quill will return to the Guardians in the future.
Star-Lord Left Temporarily
The events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 allowed us to see both Peter Quill and Rocket Raccoon in difficult personal times. Of course, Rocket was still unable to escape from his past. Meanwhile, Peter was drinking himself to death every day because he was still sad that his version of Gamora was gone and that the new version of Gamora was out there in the universe doing her own thing.
Of course, after Rocket got injured by Adam Warlock, the entire team decided to go on a quest to save him from certain death. While Rocket’s past was the highlight of the quest, Peter’s own personal life was also one of the major focus areas of the entire narrative. Mantis, Peter’s sister, understood how he felt about the entire Gamora situation. That was why she told him to take a break and maybe visit his grandfather back on Earth so that he could confront his past before he could confront his future.
But Quill always tried to evade any talks about his past or personal feelings because this was a touchy subject for him, similar to how Rocket never told the Guardians anything about what he experienced in the past. Mantis, of course, tried her best to make her brother understand that he needed to confront his own past as well. She even used Drax to try to tell Peter the analogy about him being a frog that always tried jumping from one lily pad to another instead of learning to swim.
After the battle against the High Evolutionary, Peter finally lets Gamora go by convincing himself that his version of Gamora is gone and that the new Gamora is trying to find her own path in life instead of conforming to the Gamora that Quill wanted her to be. That was when he finally understood what he needed to do.
Peter called for a meeting of the original Guardians of the Galaxy to tell them he would leave the group to confront his past by returning home to visit his grandfather. He was like Rocket in that he never tried to confront his past ever since Yondu abducted him when he was just eight years old. Quill was afraid to see his grandfather because it only reminded him of the things he ran away from when his mother died decades ago.
As such, he decided to return home to Earth to see his elderly grandpa, who quickly recognized him even though decades had passed since the last time they saw each other. But while Peter was now looking to adjust to his new life on Earth, as he even talked about the prospect of looking for a job while there, we believe that he only left the Guardians of the Galaxy temporarily.
He never said he was leaving for good when he told the group he was leaving. Instead, he simply told them he needed time away to confront his past instead of running from it. The Guardians are still his family, meaning he will still find a way to return to them sometime in the future.
Quill’s Future Is Still Unknown
Of course, at the end of the final post-credits scene, there was a message that flashed on the screen. It said that Star-Lord would return in the future. This means Marvel Studios is not ready to retire Peter Quill anytime soon. Peter Quill is still alive and is still a Guardian of the Galaxy by heart, which means he will always be there whenever the universe needs his help.
However, the thing that we don’t know is what Peter’s future will be. That’s because James Gunn, the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, has directed his final MCU project and will now focus on the DCEU as the new head of Marvel’s rival fictional comic book universe. And while some actors said that they wouldn’t return for another Guardians movie if Gunn wasn’t at the helm, we aren’t sure about Chris Pratt’s decision regarding the status of his character.
If there was going to be a new Guardians of the Galaxy movie, it would focus more on the next generation of Guardians that were introduced in the mid-credits scene of Vol. 3. Of course, with Gunn no longer at the helm. The possible approach will differ from what fans have gotten used to in the first three movies. And this makes it even more difficult to see Peter Quill returning in a Guardians movie that doesn’t have Gunn’s patented flair and comedic touch.
As such, if Star-Lord were to return, he would likely take on a smaller role that wouldn’t shift the focus away from the new Guardians. Of course, now that he’s on Earth, there’s a good chance he will become more involved in the affairs happening on the planet, especially with more Earth-based Marvel Studios movies coming our way. So, even if Quill won’t return for another Guardians of the Galaxy movie, the Star-Lord character might appear in other MCU projects, such as the Avengers franchise.
