How Avengers: Endgame Sets Up Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

While Avengers: Endgame spends most of its three-hour runtime celebrating the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and bringing resolution to some characters and long-running storylines, the film does take a few moments here and there to set up the films that will be coming down the line. It does not do so quite as aggressively as previous Marvel movies -- there is no post-credits scene, for instance -- but between things that seem to very clearly be setting up new status quos, and some moments that can be read that way if a fan wants to do so, there are some crumbs to pick up.

One of the movies most clearly set up for is Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, expected to be coming in around 2021 from director James Gunn, who was recently reinstated several months after Disney's controversial decision to part ways with him over years-old inappropriate social media posts. Gunn has said in the past that Gamora was going to be a major part of the film, and after the character was killed in Avengers: Infinity War last year, that left fans wondering if she would return, or if Gunn was being clever when he said that. Of course, this is where we say spoilers ahead for Avengers: Endgame, in theaters now.

Thanos "traded" Gamora's life for the Soul Stone in Infinity War, and as we learned in Endgame, those trades are for keeps. After all, if you were doing what Thanos did -- assembling the stones to give yourself godlike power -- trading what you loved most for the Soul Stone would have no meaningful impact if the first thing you did with all that power was bring that person back and basically get the stone for "free." The Gamora fans first met in Guardians of the Galaxy, then, is dead -- although there's a "but." All the time travel i this movie allowed a version of Gamora from immediately prior to the events of Guardians to travel forward in time, joining the Avengers and the Guardians in their battle against Thanos in the film's climax. She slipped away after the battle, and in the final moments of the film, it seems like Peter Quill and the other members of the Guardians are likely to pursue her and see if they can bring this Gamora into the fold, too.

Another major change for the Guardians came in the form of a new guest on the Benatar: Thor, the god of thunder. After making Valkyrie the queen (king? That's what they say in dialogue...) of New Asgard, he decides to go on a journey to be himself, rather than what everyone wants him to be. This is a callback to an earlier scene where he gets similar advice from an important person from his past. When Valkyrie asks where he is going, Thor says that he has a ride -- and Rocket approaches to tell him it's time to get moving. On board the Benatar, Thor and Quill squabble about who will be in charge of what Thor calls the "Asgardians of the Galaxy," a likely nod to the recent comic book of the same name. The decision to add Thor to the Guardians (assuming they do indeed add him and he does not leave before the next movie) makes a lot of sense, given that the tone and aesthetic of his hugely successful threequel Thor: Ragnarok drew a ton of inspiration from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Avengers: Endgame joins the remaining heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe following the devastating end of Avengers: Infinity War, which broke all kinds of box office records last year and paved the way for Endgame to do the same this year. The surviving members of the Avengers reunite to try to make things right in the universe by taking the fight to Thanos (Josh Brolin) and reversing his victory. In addition to original Avengers Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, and Paul Ruffalo, Avengers: Endgame stars Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Don Cheadle, and the voice of Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon.

Avengers: Endgame is in theaters now and, in keeping with the veil of secrecy that hung over the project during its production and post-production, this is the first time in years that fans have no idea what Marvel's next handful of films are (at least officially). The only Marvel Cinematic Universe film currently on the official schedule is Spider-Man: Far From Home, which will be out in July.

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