Confirmed! Ayesha Will Grapple With The Guardians Of The Galaxy Again In 'Vol. 3': But What Will She Be Up To?

Does the Marvel Cinematic Universe have a problem with its villains? The jury is still out on that well-worn debate, but everyone at least agrees that some Marvel villains should survive beyond one movie appearance. Yet, a certain God of Mischief aside, very few antagonists survive long enough to crossover from film to film. However, in an interview to IGN, James Gunn confirmed that a particular foe is set to evade the chopping block, and will return to harangue our favorite bunch of A-holes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3...

Warning! This article contains significant spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. You have been warned!

Ayesha Will Return In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 wasn't shy about killing off some of its notable villains. Vol. 2 saw Ego (#KurtRussel) famously bowing out after taking a bomb to his sizeable brain. Plus, Taserface (Chris Sullivan) was incinerated in the exploding Ravager flagship. But Elizabeth Debicki's Ayesha managed to make it out alive; and, following the recent confirmation that he’s both directing and writing the third #GuardiansoftheGalaxy movie, James Gunn disclosed that:

“I absolutely plan on bringing Elizabeth Debicki back.”

As we know, Debicki played the haughty Ayesha, leader of the uptight Sovereign race and one-time employer of the Guardians and the Ravagers. The news is certainly welcome to us here at Movie Pilot; Ayesha’s golden form is visually memorable, and throughout the run-time of Vol. 2, it was evident that Debicki was enjoying getting a chance to play the ridiculous pompous Ayesha. We couldn’t help but laugh every time her attempts to kill the Guardians failed, and that delightfully conceited sneer was wiped clean off her face.

Indeed, it seems that Gunn relished Debicki's performance as much as we did. He enthusiastically said:

“She’s actually one of my favorite actors I’ve ever worked with. I think on this movie between her, Pom Klementieff who plays Mantis, and Chris Sullivan who plays Taserface, they really were three of the best actors I’ve ever worked with...I would love to deal with them again.”

High praise indeed! Marvel yet again seems to be the studio where talent congregates, and after her in standout roles in The Night Manager and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Debicki is certainly no exception to this rule. Gunn certainly seems happy about getting to work with Debicki and Pom Klementieff in #GuardiansoftheGalaxy3...provided the latter survives the gauntlet in #AvengersInfinityWar, that is!

By Way Of A Warlock

Naturally, with Guardians Vol. 2 still garnering critical and commercial success in cinemas and #JamesGunn only recently beginning to write the script, we can only speculate on what sort of plot the third Guardians film will have. But following that foreboding mid-credits scene, as well as Ayesha’s comic book history, we can make some educated guesses.

Following Rocket (#BradleyCooper) insulting and stealing from the Sovereign, Ayesha swore vengeance against the Guardians in Vol. 2. We saw Ayesha turn to increasingly more drastic methods, which culminated in the creation of a supposedly perfect life form which could destroy Star-Lord (#ChrisPratt) and co. in the post-credits scene. Her mention of the name "Adam" sent shivers through the spines of fans, since over in the comics, Adam Warlock is a particularly powerful and popular superhero amongst die-hard Marvelites.

Adam Warlock is already confirmed for the third Guardians movie, so given that she’s Warlock’s progenitor, Ayesha’s inclusion in Guardians Vol. 3 makes a whole lot of sense. She may even pose more of a threat for the group in their third outing!

Thanks to the gap between Guardians Vol. 2 and #InfinityWar, Guardians Vol. 3 will be set four years after the last installment, which could be more than enough time for Ayesha (and Warlock) to make provisions for an all-out assault against our favorite irreverent #superheroes. Therefore, she might be treated as a more serious threat in Vol. 3, which could be an interesting avenue to explore, in light of how her frequent defeats were one of the best running gags in Vol. 2. It would be really cool to see another villain develop, especially if Debicki is given free range to her portray a more sinister side aspect of Ayesha.

Beyond this, our speculation gets a little murkier. In the comics, Warlock turned and fought on the side of good, but it remains to be seen what — if anything — will cause him to fight against Ayesha and the Sovereign in the upcoming film. Having said that, we recently discovered that Gamora will have a significantly expanded role in the sequel, which might hint at a certain plot in the comics, where she and Adam Warlock found love. Could this be the thing that turns Adam against Ayesha? How will this factor into her “unspoken thing” with Star-Lord? And it’s highly doubtful that Ayesha would approve of the pairing!

Obviously, we won’t know for sure until we see Guardians Vol. 3, and James Gunn is known for eschewing many parts of comic book canon, so things could drastically change. Heck, Guardians Vol. 3 may see Star-Lord get Adam and Ayesha onside with another killer playlist. It would work on us, anyway!

(Source: IGN)