As the beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise ends its threequel, Chris Pratt discusses the predictions about the original Guardians of the Galaxy becoming the MCU’s first flop. Released in 2014 as part of Phase 2, the James Gunn-directed movie further opens up the galactic pocket of the franchise. Almost a decade later, the rag-tag cosmic heroes are some of the most popular heroes in the MCU.
Speaking with ComicBook in light of the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which finishes Gunn’s MCU trilogy, Pratt looks back at his journey being part of the universe. He specifically cites how skeptics predicted that Guardians of the Galaxy would be the MCU’s first flop, which obviously wasn’t the case. Read his full quote below:
“It was really emotional. It was really emotional for so many reasons that it would take too long in this interview to even get into. But it just was emotional. It was a lot of gratitude around the fact that James Gunn actually directed it and was able to do that. Just grateful that he even gave me the job to begin with. It felt gratifying, knowing that critics had said that it would likely be the first Marvel Movie to bomb. And what was that gonna be like, to be the first Marvel movie to not be successful? To take these characters that no one knew, and now have them be household names, and to be part of that, and to have rides around the world.”
How The Guardians of the Galaxy Become One Of MCU’s Most Popular Characters
Doubts about the first Guardians of the Galaxy film succeeding were understandable. Despite their comic book origins, they didn’t have name recognition outside avid fans of Marvel. To make things trickier, the team features obscure characters such as a talking raccoon and a sentient tree. Despite that, Gunn was able to ground the film’s storytelling and humanize the heroes, making it so easy to be invested in them and their stories.
Aside from the first two movies in their sub-franchise, the Guardians of the Galaxy were also integral to the culmination of the Infinity Saga in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Both Nebula and Gamora being Thanos’ adopted daughters played significant parts in the Titan’s story and the Avengers’ crusade to take him down. The team also had a brief appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder before moving forward on their next adventure that will be tackled in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Right now, the focus is staging a satisfying ending to the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. What happens beyond that to the cosmic heroes is unknown. Gunn has already promised a big death or two, which means that the threequel will indeed be the final hurrah for this particular roster. But that doesn’t mean that there will never be another version of the team after it.
Source: Comicbook
