Sly Stallone Will Play a Big Part in the Future of the Guardians of the Galaxy

It’s presently unclear what the Marvel Universe (MU) will look like after the as-yet-untitled sequel to Avengers: Infinity War, but considering how Thanos devastated the comic book universe when he had the Infinity Gauntlet — added to the fact that the contracts of headliners Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey, Jr. will be fulfilled by then — it’s a pretty good bet that the MU will look vastly different. Even the Guardians franchise, which got a much later start than the terrestrial franchises and has one more movie planned post-Avengers 4, will likely be considerably different down the line, according to Guardians Vol. 2 writer-director James Gunn.

I think the first three movies tell a single story and that story is pretty simple. I think that there could be a ‘Guardians Vol. 4,’ but it would not be the same. It would not be the same group… basically the story of this group ends with ‘Vol. 3.’

Is Gunn just saying that he plans to replace Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the rest of the gang to give Marvel contract leverage over the actors or does he really plan to bring in a new team? With Marvel’s track record, it’s likely the former, rather than the latter, but Gunn did say that he wants to “see more of” Sylvester Stallone’s Stakar, a Ravager who goes by the name of Starhawk in the comic books, who also happens to be one of the original members of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

I’m not sure about him appearing in ‘Vol. 3,’ we’ll have to see about that, but it’s our plan to see more of Stallone. Kevin (Feige) and I are working on what is going to become of the Marvel Cosmic Universe and where it’s going to go. … It’s my plan to have Sly — and I talked to him last night — to find a place for him in the future of the Marvel Universe.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens Friday.