How Does Endgame Set Up Guardians Vol. 3?

The biggest change in roster comes at the end of the film, which finds Chris Hemsworth’s Thor joining the group as what he calls “The Asgardians of the Galaxy.” Of course Starlord has some issues with the power dynamics in play now that Thor is part of their crew, and it’s also assumed that Rocket will feel a certain sense of (heightened) entitlement now that he was (partly) responsible for the mission to resurrect most of his team members. Let’s also hope that Thor takes his mother Frigga’s advice and eats a salad or two.

Given that Peter is seen searching star charts for Gamora, we can also infer that the film’s mission will be a Star Trek III: The Search for Spock-style quest to find the living Gamora from the 2014 timeline and potentially meld her with the soul of the Gamora they knew and loved who perished by the hands of Thanos. It is theorized her soul could be trapped inside the Soul Stone, so the mission could be to go back to Vormir and retrieve it somehow. This would also be an opportunity to find out what happened when Captain America confronted his old arch nemesis The Red Skull when he went back to return said stone. It’s also possible that the story could simply involve trying to locate the current Gamora and make her part of their surrogate dysfunctional space-trotting family again without use of magical trickery.

Since the third Guardians movie is said to be the last involving the current roster of Starlord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot, Nebula and Mantis, it’s possible we might see the return of Original Flavor Groot from the first Guardians now that he’s had time to sprout. Lastly, it is very likely that Adam Warlock will be involved as he was teased in Vol. 2, plus in the comics he is heavily associated with Gamora, the Soul Stone and a character called Pip the Troll. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected in theaters in 2022.