Ever since their MCU debut, the Guardians of the Galaxy have brought something fresh to the superhero franchise, expanding the world into outer space and providing comedy action set to a memorable soundtrack.
The team’s third solo movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is set for release in May 2023, following their appearances in Thor: Love and Thunder and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and much of the film’s cast has been confirmed, highlighting both returning and new characters.
Updated on January 19th, 2023 by Stacie Rook: As its release date draws nearer, more details about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are being revealed, with visuals of new characters like Adam Warlock debuting in the movie’s trailer (via YouTube), and more of the cast being announced.
The High Evolutionary
With a comic book history that dates back to the 1960s, the High Evolutionary is a scientist who, as his chosen moniker suggests, has a particular interest in evolution. Actor Chukwudi Iwuji is playing the character in the MCU, and Vol. 3 will mark his first appearance in the franchise.
As reported by Variety, the MCU’s version of the High Evolutionary is the creator of Rocket the Raccoon, suggesting that his appearance in the movie can only signal trouble for Rocket and the wider Guardians team.
Cosmo The Spacedog
Cosmo the Spacedog had cameo appearances in the first two Guardians movies, as well as in Marvel’s animated series What If…?, but she had a bigger role in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special as a member of the titular team, which will continue in Vol. 3.
The character is a sapient dog who was sent into space by the Soviet Union, and who first appeared in Marvel Comics in 2008. Cosmo has always been most associated on the page with the Guardians team and tries to aid them in any way that she can.
Peter Quill / Star-Lord
The de-facto leader of the Guardians, Human-Celestial hybrid Peter Quill had to confront his heritage in the team’s first two solo movies, taking on his father Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Since then, fans have seen Quill fight alongside the Avengers, and experience grief over Gamora in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, but there are still many aspects of Quill’s journey that have yet to be explored in detail, and will likely impact his story in Vol. 3.
Gamora
After the death of the MCU’s original Gamora at the hands of Thanos, an incarnation of the assassin from 2014 was brought to the present day after the Avenger’s Time Heist in Endgame.
Marvel fans will see a new side of Gamora with the return of this variant of the character, undoubtedly altered both by her displacement in time and the absence of the Guardians as an influence on her journey.
Drax The Destroyer
Having witnessed the defeat of Thanos and therefore seen through his mission of vengeance after the murder of his wife and daughter, Drax the Destroyer could be a little aimless moving forward.
Though the character is still a full member of the Guardians team, and he proved to be one of the funniest characters in the Guardians Holiday Special, his individual goals are now unclear for the first time in years, which will perhaps motivate him to find a new cause to champion.
Rocket
Unlike most of the other Guardians, Rocket was not a victim of the Snap and therefore spent the five years without his friends as an Avenger, mainly working alongside Nebula.
As this venture has given Rocket more experience in the business of being a superhero than his fellow Guardians, it will be interesting to see if and/or how his dynamic with the rest of the team changes too in Vol. 3, particularly now that he is reunited with best friend Groot.
Groot
Throughout his appearances in the MCU, viewers have seen Groot in many stages of his life, and his continued growth (literally and figuratively!) is sure to bring new laughs to audiences in Vol 3.
Last seen as a young adult in the Holiday Special, Groot is likely coming into many superpowers he didn’t know about, as he battles alongside his friends and gains more experience side by side with the Guardians.
Mantis
One of the most underrated MCU superheroes, Mantis was able to use her immensely versatile empathic abilities to bravely restrain Thanos in a battle during Infinity War.
Since then, she featured in one of the biggest reveals in the Guardians Holiday Special, when she told Peter that Ego was also her father, making the two of them siblings. Hopefully, Vol. 3 will explore Peter and Mantis’ new sibling dynamic, as the connection is one that they seem to both value dearly.
Nebula
Nebula has had one of the most complicated moral histories of all the Guardians, confronting at times her father, her sister, and an alternate version of herself in her journey to the present as a member of the heroes team.
As Avengers: Endgame left the Guardians as they were taking off from Earth in a quest to find the 2014 version of Gamora, it looks like Nebula’s complex family dynamics will be a driving force of her story for the foreseeable future too.
Adam Warlock
A much-anticipated face joining the MCU in Vol. 3, one of the MCU’s most exciting Phase 5 projects, Adam Warlock’s appearance was first hinted at in one of Vol. 2’s credit scenes.
Will Poulter has been cast as the imposing hero, and while there are many ways Adam Warlock could factor into Vol. 3, as either an ally or enemy to the Guardians, his strong ties to the Infinity Gauntlet and its powers in the comics show that his cosmic-level powers are not to be trifled with.
Ayesha
Though she once employed the Guardians, Ayesha quickly became an antagonist of the team in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and ended the movie still determined to see them destroyed.
To aid her in this quest, Ayesha created a new, stronger Sovereign, who she named Adam. Given Adam Warlock’s expected prominence in Vol. 3, it’s likely Ayesha will play a larger role in the story too, directing her creation in his prescribed mission.
Stakar Ogord
Ravager captain Stakar Ogord has only made one appearance in the MCU so far, during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which explored his long history and later feud with Yondu.
The end of Vol. 2 saw Ogord assist in granting Yondu the Ravager funeral his career had entitled him to before he reunited with his former team. The character’s return in Vol. 3 suggests that the Guardians still have business with the Ravagers ahead of them.
Kraglin Obfonteri
Most associated with Yondu in the first two installments of the Guardians movies, Kraglin Obfonteri is a Ravager that takes up use of his captain’s former weapon, the Yaka Arrow, at the end of Vol. 2.
As he will be in Vol. 3 alongside Stakar Ogord, it’s possible that Kraglin could have joined another Ravager crew since his last appearance, or else he could meet up with the Guardians to aid them in another capacity, perhaps providing information on Gamora’s whereabouts.
