Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Is Giving Nebula a Major Upgrade

After Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania enters theaters next month, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be the next film on the Marvel Studios release slate. Though it’s still a bit too early for any intensive marketing, few tidbits promoting the threequel have started to surface. The latest comes courtesy of USA Today, which unveiled a new look at the James Gunn flick in a 2023 film release round-up. In it, it appears Nebula (Karen Gillan) can be seen rocking a major upgrade.

In the picture, many of the Guardians can be seen gathering around the table in their fancy (and comic-accurate) suits. Nebula, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Drax (Dave Bautista) are all talking around a table. One glance at Nebula and fans of the franchise will notice she has an entirely new arm poking out from under her suit. See the photo yourself below.

Unfortunately for Guardians fans, not all of those in the picture will return for future movies. Dave Bautista confirmed he was done as Drax the Destroyed in a recent GQ story.

“I’m so grateful for Drax. I love him,” Bautista told the magazine. “But there’s a relief [that it’s over]. It wasn’t all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don’t know if I want Drax to be my legacy—it’s a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff.”

On the flip side, Gillan has consistently implied she’d return to play Nebula however long Marvel would allow her.

“I love my character so much. I’m obsessed with her. Honestly, I’m just fascinated,” the actor said last year. “I think it’s just been so lucky. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving because she starts off as this villain, and I was given the opportunity to really kind of show her perspective and her point of view on things. I think’s been like six movies, and I just think she’s completely fascinating. Her whole family dynamic, her upbringing, toxic narcissistic family system. It’s all the stuff I love to explore.”

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now available exclusively on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.

If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here. Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.