The end of the Guardians may have come in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but Peter Quill / Star-Lord may still make his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe one way or another. The 2023 movie concluded with a title card that teased Star-Lord’s return, though it remains to be seen how it will happen. That said, Chris Pratt talked about his MCU future and ensured he would be willing to reprise his role as the Celestial-Human hybrid.
A title card that read “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return” appeared at the very end of the post-credits stinger for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Though Marvel Studios has yet to reveal when Peter Quill will appear next, Pratt believes it will only make sense if he will be Star-Lord again.
“Well, it probably make more sense that I would be Star-Lord again,” he told ComicBook while talking about his work on The Garfield Movie. “But anything is possible.”
However, now that the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise director James Gunn is the co-CEO of DC Studios, there are theories that Pratt may follow Gunn and appear in the DC Extended Universe. The actor didn’t deny the claims and even confirmed that it’s likely to happen.
“Maybe there's something that would be right over there,” he continued. “Maybe both. How about both? Let's do both. I think it's 100% both.”
Will Star-Lord return to the MCU?
After Marvel Studios confirmed Star-Lord’s return with that title card, many believed he would return to fight alongside the Avengers in the upcoming Avengers 5, which used to be titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, and Avengers: Secret Wars. However, it looks like Gunn has a different plan for Pratt’s role.
In the director’s commentary for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, he revealed that he and the Parks and Recreation star had discussed the possibility of doing a stand-alone movie called The Legendary Star-Lord. In their pursuit of giving fans something special, a film set on Earth that features Peter out of his element is probably the best way for them to go.
“Chris and I, forever, have talked about how great it would be to do a Legendary Star-Lord movie,” Gunn explained via The Direct. “A story with Star-Lord on Earth trying to adapt to the environment of Earth in the same way that somebody else might try to adapt to the alien environment of outer space.”
Though Gunn is no longer part of Marvel Studios to oversee this project, he expressed interest in seeing Pratt in a possible Guardians of the Galaxy spinoff movie. Who knows, the company may have a bigger plan for Star-Lord that may be announced in the future.
