By the end of Avengers: Infinity War, the Guardians of the Galaxy aren’t doing so well.
Despite having made a fabulous entrance to Avengers: Infinity War to the tune of Rubberband Man, the Guardians are a bit worse for wear when the Mad Titan snaps his fingers.
WARNING: SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR BELOW.
Thanks to Thanos’ snap, by the time the credits roll only Rocket and Nebula are still alive.
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What will the Guardians of the Galaxy’s role be in Avengers 4?
Star-Lord, Groot, Mantis and Drax were erased by Thanos’ snap, which also destroyed half of life in the universe.
Gamora isn’t alive either, though not due to the snap: Thanos sacrificed her to get one of the Infinity Stones.
Avengers 4 will have to deal with the grief and loss, while also providing some way of resurrecting some of the heroes, if for nothing more than their upcoming solo movies.
How Guardians of the Galaxy come back to fight in Avengers 4 remains to be seen, though fan theories speculate time travel and the Quantum Realm will have something to do with it.
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Zoe Saldana, who plays Gamora, has hinted at her return for Avengers 4 reshoots.
These, like Loki’s reappearances, may only be in a flashback, or time travel to the past.
However, another fan theory sees her trapped inside the Soul Stone, and with Ant-Man’s ability to travel to subatomic levels and into the Quantum Realm, she may be resurrected after all.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 has been in the works for a while, but with the recent firing of director James Gunn, nothing can truly be predicted.
Initially, Vol 3 was touted as the epic conclusion to his trilogy, but with everyone but Rocket reduced to ash (or trapped in an Infinity stone) it would be a pretty boring movie.
Anthony and Joe Russo, the Avengers directors, have done their best to convince fans Guardians Vol 3 could be set before the events Infinity War.
“Here’s the thing,” Anthony Russo told The Huffington Post. “I think it’s important to remember anything is possible in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).
“Just because there’s a sequel on the books doesn’t mean… people become accustomed to time moving linearly in the MCU.
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“That doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. There’s a lot of very inventive ways of where the story can go from here.”
Most fans see the Russo brothers’ statements as clever subterfuge.
How they feature in Avengers 4 remains to be seen, but fans are hoping for some glorious resurrection of the entire Guardians team.
Avengers 4 is in cinemas Friday, April 26 2019.