James Gunn Confirms That Someone Is Going To Die In ‘Guardians 3’ – Let’s Figure Out Who

guardians of the galaxy

Disney


I’m a massive fan of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. In fact, I’ve of the opinion that it’s the second-best film that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has ever made, behind only Avengers: Infinity War. While the sequel wasn’t quite as magical as its predecessor, that first Guardians burst onto the scene to such an extent that I’m of the opinion it’s one of the best sci-fi films — forget about comic book movies, we’re talking general sci-fi here — to be released in the last two decades — like Star Wars for a new generation.

The Guardians‘ stock price has cooled in recent years, though, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was just a run-of-the-mill sequel, while Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord was arguably the Least Valuable Player in the battle against Thanos. Plus, now that it looks like Thor is going to be paling around with the squad, they’re not even the biggest stars of their own movie.

Still, that doesn’t mean I’m not excited for the upcoming Vol. 3, which sees director James Gunn return to the project after briefly being fired for offensive past tweets. While Disney first decided to ax the director, they ultimately reversed course and brought him back to the project after a resounding response from the cast and fans alike. With that now behind him, I think Gunn will learn from both Vol 2. and his work on Warner Bros’ upcoming The Suicide Squad and use those lessons to make Vol 3. a better film than the previous one. It certainly sounds like it’s going to — at the very least — be the most intense film in the trilogy, as Gunn recently confirmed that a character is set to die in the movie.

I think we can take Star-Lord and Gamora off the board immediately: Star-Lord is the centerpiece of the franchise, and not only is Gamora his love interest, but she’s already died once already in Infinity War. The same can be said for Groot, who sacrificed himself at the end of Guardians Vol. 1 only to return as a teenage version of himself in the subsequent films. So, that leaves us with three characters: Drax, Rocket, and Mantis. Considering that killing Mantis would be plain aggressive (she’s comedic relief who barely gets involved in the battle, killing her off would be too grizzly for a Disney property), we can chalk her off the board.

It makes sense that Drax and Rocket are the two most likely candidates, as they’re right in that Vision sweet spot of being a character that audiences are familiar with but not necessarily attached to — their death would be effective emotionally but wouldn’t affect the overarching narrative as they’re simply not that integral to the plot. Which leads me to believe that Rocket is the most likely candidate to be billed in GOTG Vol. 3, as his emotional arch is not only far heavier than Drax’s — his questions of who he is and where he came from have been one of the character’s defining traits — but it also frees up Bradley Cooper to perhaps take on a more significant superhero role sometime in the future.

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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or contact him eric@brobible.com

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.