James Gunn Eyeing Fourth Guardians of the Galaxy Movie and Teases New Team

It's quite amazing to hear of how far into the future James Gunn sees the universe he's established around the Guardians Of The Galaxy going. We know that the Guardians will have at least two more adventures after GOTG2, the first being Avengers: Infinity War and the second being GOTG3 but we didn't expect for Gunn to be eyeing a fourth film, which turns out is the case after all.

In an interview with the Toronto Sun, Gunn made some revealing statements about the future of the Guardians in the MCU. Here's what he had to say.

"I think the first three movies tell a single story and that story is pretty simple. I think that there could be a ‘Guardians Vol. 4,’ but it would not be the same. It would not be the same group… Basically the story of this group ends with ‘Vol. 3."

As you can see, Gunn intends for the first three movies to stand on their own. In those three movies, he wants to tell a singular story but the Guardians' story doesn't end there. Gunn also mentions how a fourth movie would start a new story, with a new team.

Where Would a Fourth 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Movie Go?

Gunn's comments being noted, it sounds like his views for the Guardians are going to expand beyond the current team of Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, and Rocket Raccoon, along with a new story being told for said team. So, which characters would Gunn recruit for this team?

Well, if we look at the new characters being introduced in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol2, we may already have a good idea of who Gunn will center a fourth Guardians movie around.

During one of the four post-credits scene attached to GOTG2, the scene opens up to Stakar (Sylvester Stallone) with his space-faring crew. Among the crew, we get to see Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum), Charlie-27 ( Ving Rhames), Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh) and Mainframe (Miley Cyrus) joining him. We only get to see this crew briefly but anyone who's familiar with the comics knows that this team is an obvious callback to the original Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics.

In the comics, the first iteration of the Guardians consisted of Starhawk, Aleta Ogord, Vance Astro, Nikki, Yondu, and Martinex. They all met in the 31st century after the Badoon caused their paths to intersect, leading up to their forming of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Will Starhawk's Team Become the Next Guardians of the Galaxy?

Now, one would expect this new team of heroes to be at the center of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 but the old Guardians lead by Peter Quill need to close out their story like Gunn said. So, this still leaves us with the question of where Stakar a.k.a. Starhawk's team of Guardians would fit into the MCU? Then again, that question may have been answered with Gunn's mentioning of a possible fourth movie.

Keep in mind that Starhawk's team is merely teased in GOTG2, meaning they're likely to have more significant roles in GOTG3, setting them up for an even more expanded role in the fourth movie. If that's the case, then Sylvester Stallone could have a major role in the MCU as the leader of the next iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Gunn himself pointed out that he intends for Stallone to play a pivotal role in the MCU so having him lead the Guardians in a fourth movie would make the claim of a Starhawk lead team believable.

Apart from a potential Starhawk focused film, there's a possibility that GOTG4 could be centered around Adam Warlock, who James Gunn recently confirmed was a part of the third movie. Some could argue that Warlock's introduction in GOTG3 doesn't mean he'll be around for the fourth movie. But, when we consider how pivotal of a role he plays in the cosmic side of the Marvel universe, it only makes sense for him to lead a new team of Guardians.

Could Adam Warlock Become the New Leader of the Guardians?

In the scenario of Warlock leading a new team of Guardians, we still don't know who he'd recruit. Although, if we look at the teams he's lead in the Annihilation Conquest comics, Warlock will probably be joined by Star-Lord, Quasar, Rocket, Nova, and Wraith.

Only Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon have been introduced so far in the MCU but with a fourth Guardians movie expected to kick off a new story, introducing Quasar, Nova, and Wraith doesn't seem too preposterous to consider.

Regardless of theories, a fourth Guardians Of The Galaxy movies is a ways off from now. The second movie hasn't even premiered yet and the third movie in the series won't be released until 2019 at the earliest. So, a fourth won't make its way into theaters until 2021. We also need to consider what Kevin Feige said about the MCU having an uncertain future beyond Phase 3, meaning a fourth Guardians movie might not even happen. Hopefully, that's not the case and we either get to see a new iteration of the Guardians lead by Vance Astro or #AdamWarlock in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 4.