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James Gunn assembled a fun group of misfits when he brought the first Guardians Of The Galaxy to the screen. No one outside of hardcore Marvel comic fans had even heard of the team before the film premiered. Once fans saw the movie, they were a box office megahit. Suddenly everyone knew who Starlord, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and Gamora were. And they wanted more. The crew would appear again in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers Endgame, Thor: Love And Thunder, and most recently, the Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special.
In May 2023, James Gunn takes his final bow (at least for now) in the MCU as he starts his new job of co-running DC Films over at Warner Brothers. Along with him, many of the cast have stated that they will also be leaving the franchise behind. With Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 being the swan song for so many, where does that leave the fate of these characters? They seem to be heading into a dark future, and not all of them may make it out.
Warning!!!! There will be spoilers for most of the MCU moving forward!!!!!
The abducted young child Peter Quill was taken into outer space, where he learned to become a skilled thief and scavenger. He used any chance he could to avoid dealing with the death of his mother and finding out who his true father was. When he finally was forced into teaming up with the rest of the crew, he finally found the family he had been searching for his whole life.
After Gamora was forced to give her life for the Soul Stone, Peter lost his one true love. He would find her once again during the battle with Thanos but was quick to learn it was just a time-displaced version of Gamora, that hadn’t met him before and had no memories of the bond she shared with the rest of the Guardians. In the Holiday Special, he learned that he actually has a sister, and she had been under his nose the whole time. Will Peter die in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3?
Verdict: Lives
With Peter dealing with a lot of death in his life, it doesn’t seem like it would make much narrative sense for him to die. He’s searching once again for the love of his life, just learned he has a sister and has finally stepped up to take responsibility as the team’s leader. With them now running things on Knowhere, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to kill off the character that has been our entry point into the series through this whole thing. It would make more sense to see him retire and spend the rest of his life in happiness, just as we got to see Steve Rogers at the close of Endgame.
The adopted daughter of Thanos has worked by his side for decades. He didn’t know she was waiting for a chance to betray him and finally get revenge for destroying her home world. When she learns of the power stone and finds that Peter Quill has it, she tails it in hopes of gaining its power for herself. She is thrown in prison along with Peter, Rocket, and Groot.
There, they meet Drax, who wants to kill Gamora as revenge for Ronan killing his wife and daughter. He decides to spare her life so that they can find their way to Ronan and he can kill the evil overlord himself. Thanos gets possession of the Reality Stone and uses it to ambush the Guardians Of The Galaxy.
He kidnaps Gamora and tells her that he is aware that she knows where the Soul Stone is. In order to get her to tell him where it is; he tortures Nebula. She finally gives in, and they arrive to find that there has to be a sacrifice of something the seeker holds dear. Thanos throws Gamora off the cliff in order to gain possession of the stone and gets him closer to finally achieving his goal.
In another reality, Thanos finds out that the Avengers are time-traveling to gather the Infinity Stones. He decides this is easier than getting them himself and travels to the Avengers present. Gamora runs off from Thanos and runs into the Guardians. Peter recognizes her, but she doesn’t know who he is. After injuring him, she disappears in the remains of the battle. Will we see Gamora die?
Verdict: Lives
Since we’ve already seen her die once before, it wouldn’t make much sense to kill her off again. While the first trailer doesn’t give much away, the logical guess is that Peter is searching for her again to see if they can have the same spark he had with the other Gamora. There could be some more time travel shenanigans in this film that will finally either bring back the original Gamora in her place or somehow transport her memories into the new Gamora. More than likely, she will spend her life living in happiness with Quill.
Ronan The Accuser stormed Drax’s home world, and his family was killed in the assault. He promised to get revenge on those that were responsible for their death. Drax would end up in a prison that would soon find him face to face with Thanos’ daughter Gamora. After agreeing to spare her life in order to be able to face Ronan himself, he helps the rest of the Guardians escape.
While visiting Knowhere, he purposefully lets their location slip so that Ronan will come to their location, and he can finally face off against the man responsible for his family’s death. When Ronan arrives, he is easily beaten. Thanks to Groot, he is resuscitated, and they set off to find Peter and Gamora, who the Ravagers have saved. Along with the rest of the Guardians, he is finally able to defeat Ronan thanks to the shared use of the Power Stone. When Gamora says his family would be proud, he states that Ronan was only a pawn and that Thanos is the real enemy he has to defeat.
After a quick trip to the planet/entity Ego, Drax joins the Avengers to fight Thano’s army on Earth. When Thanos is able to complete his mission, Drax fades as a victim of the Blip. He joins the heroes’ forces when he returns to form and helps defeat Thanos.
For a while, Drax flies around with the Guardians and Thor before settling in Knowhere as their home base. When Quill feels dejected about losing Gamora, he and Mantis fly to Earth to kidnap the great Earth hero Kevin Bacon to cheer him up. While on Earth, he is able to get revenge on a Gobot for killing his family members. Now that he has fulfilled his promise to his family to avenge their deaths, will Drax die in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3?
Verdict: Dies
When the group is gearing up to fight Ronan in the first film, Drax says that if he dies, he will be reunited with his family again. He has no reason to fear death and should actually be welcoming it. Another big factor is Dave Bautista has stated that this is his last time playing Drax. He said without James Gunn, he wouldn’t want to play him again. Also, the fact that at his age, it is becoming harder to keep his body in peak physical form to be shirtless as the character. For Drax, a happy ending is actually to die and be reunited with his family.
She was the assistant to Ego in Vol. 2, and we learn that Ego created her just like he has many beings throughout the galaxy. She turns from Ego’s ways and joins the group on their adventures. In Avengers: Infinity War, she is instrumental in almost defeating Thanos using her mind-control powers. Peter Quill loses his temper and punches Thanos while he is under Mantis’ spell. This wakes him up and ruins the whole plan. Avengers: Endgame could have been avoided thanks to Mantis, but Peter ruined and caused the death of half the universe.
After being a victim of the Blip, she returned to help Earth’s heroes fight against Thanos before he was finally defeated. She traveled around with Thor and the Guardians before settling down on Knowhere with the rest of the group. When Quill is sad about Christmas, she flies to Earth to help kidnap the great Warrior Kevin Bacon. She reveals to Drax that she is Peter’s sister since Ego was both of their father. Mantis is worried Peter won’t accept her since Ego was responsible for his mother’s death.
They return to Knowhere and surprise Peter with his Holiday surprise. Peter appreciates it but makes her release Kevin Bacon from being under her powers. As the group celebrates Christmas, she finally tells Peter she is his sister, and he is elated to find out that he still has a family member. Now that she has a real family, will Mantis die?
Verdict: Lives
There doesn’t seem to be much value in killing her off after revealing her familial connection to Peter. They could do it to motivate Peter into defeating Adam Warlock (or whoever the real villain of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 is), but that seems a push too far. I don’t think Gunn would twist that knife unnecessarily on his way out the door. But what do I know?
She was once the trusted daughter of Thanos, but he started to experiment on her to “improve” her. It was probably no secret that she hated her father but always sought his approval. Her hatred for Gamora caused her to side with Ronan and face off with her. When she ended up dangling from the ship, she chose to cut her own robotic hand off than be saved by her sister. They would cross paths later, and Nebula would finally see things more like her sister. After the Blip, she would keep Tony Stark alive until they were brought back to Earth by Captain Marvel.
Nebula would go on to work with Rocket in outer space until Tony came up with time travel, and she could help reset the universe. Her computer implants would betray her and tell the Thanos in the past of the Avengers’ plan. She would end up sidelined for a while as the past version of herself took her place. Nebula was eventually freed and fought alongside the heroes against Thanos.
She settled down on Knowhere with the rest of the Guardians while they tried to find the time-displaced version of Gamora. During their holiday celebration, she actually seemed to enjoy herself and even danced during a performance by Kevin Bacon. Her connection with Rocket is apparent as she knows exactly what to get him as a present. Bucky’s arm. Will she meet her end in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3?
Verdict: Dies
If there is any character who has had a complete arc during the run of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s Nebula. She would have rather cut her hand off than accept help from her sister. Now she misses Gamora and will do just about anything to reconnect with the time-displaced version. Could we see her sacrifice herself to save Gamora if it comes down to it? More than likely. It would bring her fully into the hero category and finally show her true bond with her sister.
A living tree that teams up with Rocket to capture bounties across the universe. They find Peter Quill is on Xandar and try to capture him. The chaos that ensues gets them thrown into prison. Rocket devises a complicated plan to escape that Groot hastens by grabbing a battery off the guard tower and sets off an alarm. They all escape and head to Knowhere. He brings Drax back after almost drowning. From there, he goes with the group aboard Ronan’s ship.
When the ship is falling from orbit, he encases the rest of the group in a wooden cage. He sacrifices himself so that the rest can live. Rocket does find a younger version of Groot among the debris and raises him aboard their ship. As a baby, Groot helps the group defeat all sorts of creatures and people across the universe.
Groot goes with Thor and Rocket to a forge so that Thor can create a new weapon. He helps Thor by picking up the axe head and breaking his arm off, giving the axe a handle. When the group teleports to Earth, he helps the heroes fight Thanos’ forces. During the battle, he meets a human hero named Steve Rogers. Thanos is able to snap his fingers, and Groot falls victim to the Blip.
When he returns, he goes through a portal to help all of Earth’s heroes fight Thanos. After the gigantic battle, he travels with Thor and the Guardians until settling down at Knowhere. He helps the Guardians celebrate Christmas and even lets Rocket decorate him like a Christmas Tree. When Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 premieres, does Groot die?
Verdict: Lives
We’ve been there and done that. His selfless act of sacrificing himself to save the rest of the group was enough to stretch over numerous movies, and his dying now wouldn’t have as much of an impact. We’ve done baby Groot, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason to move backward for a group of characters that won’t be very relevant going forward.
We don’t know Rocket’s full story yet, but from his rundown on Xandar, we learn that he is the result of illegal genetic testing on lower lifeforms. He has indicated that he didn’t ask to be put together and torn apart multiple times. The Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer indicates that we will learn about his backstory and tragic origin.
After becoming friends with Groot, he becomes a bounty hunter. He tracks down Peter Quill on Xandar but ends up getting thrown into prison. When the group needs to escape, he devises a plan but has to improvise when Groot grabs a battery off the guard tower setting off an alarm. He gets the group out of prison, and they all travel to Knowhere. They learn about the Power Stone but have to fight off Ronan’s forces with Drax calls them.
Rocket then has to find Quill and Gamora after the Ravagers take them but finds that they are now working with them to find and defeat Ronan. He pilots the ship during the battle on Xandar and even helps to take out Ronan when the rest of the Guardians are trapped by crashing their ship into Ronan’s. As they fall from orbit, he begs Groot not to sacrifice himself. When the group has to face off against Ronan, he helps share the Power Stone and defeat Ronan. In the rubble, he finds a young offshoot of Groot and takes him back to the ship.
He travels with the Guardians to pull off some jobs before the ship crashes onto a planet. He stays behind with Groot while Quill and the rest go investigate. Before too long, Ravagers show up, capture the two, and free Nebula from their ship. He is able to pull off an escape aboard the ship before heading to Ego to help Peter defeat him.
The group stumbles upon Thor, who wants to travel to a star forge to create himself a new weapon. Rocket wants to go with him to see this legendary place. They find it shut down, and he helps Thor revive the forge. Then they travel to earth to fight against Thanos’ forces. When Thanos wins, he sees Groot disintegrate in front of him.
Rocket stays with the Avengers until Tony Stark and Nebula return. He finds that they are the only two Guardians left. When the group finds Thanos, they head there to kill him and reset the universe. It is too late, and they find that the stones have been destroyed. When they kill Thanos, Rocket and Nebula travel into space to search out other means of reversing the Blip.
Rocket and Nebula return when Tony Stark finds a way to time travel and sets out to find the Infinity Stones in the past. He travels with Bruce to convince Thor to join them on their mission. It’s a success, and Rocket travels back to old Asgard to retrieve the Reality Stone. The group succeeds, and they return to the present day only to have to fight an alternate Thanos from a different timeline.
After the group defeats Thanos, he is reunited with all the Guardians. They attend Tony Starks funeral before flying off into space with Thor in tow. They finally settle down on Knowhere, where Rocket helps to rebuild. When the group exchanges Christmas gifts, Nebula gives him Bucky’s metal arm, which he had been coveting since seeing it in Infinity War. This shows just how close they got after the Blip. Does Rocket die before the credits roll on Vol. 3?
Verdict: Dies
From the trailer, it seems that we are going to get an origin story for Rocket and find out exactly how far back his trauma goes. He is finally going to be able to confront the High Evolutionary. It is possible he will sacrifice himself to save the rest of his team. Or possibly as a way to defeat the High Evolutionary and end his tampering with genetics forever. His trauma may finally come to an end.
What do you think? Will anyone survive Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3? Let us know in the comments.
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