Kevin Feige on How Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Fits in Marvel’s Phase 5

Following multiverse movies Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios’ Phase 5 takes a detour in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. February’s Ant-Man threequel kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 5, the middle chapter of what Marvel has dubbed “the Multiverse Saga” spanning Phases 4-6. But like the Infinity Saga before it — where the through-line was the Infinity Stones, culminating in the climactic Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame — there will be standalone stories that exist as part of the Multiverse Saga without involving the multiverse.

“All the fans know that everything, like the comics, connects in certain ways, but very much [can also stand alone]. And James [Gunn] was always very, very direct in saying, ‘This is about these characters,’” Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige told Marvel.com. “It’s not about the bigger world-building — although everything is a piece of the puzzle — but this is really about seeing what becomes of this particular family.” 

That family includes Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), who died in Infinity War but returned — as an alternate Gamora from the 2014 timeline who never fell in love with Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) — in Endgame. That’s as much multiverse as there is in Vol. 3, which will focus on sending off Gunn and this team of Guardians.

“Guardians has always been about the characters. I mean, all of Marvel has, but in particular, these characters that are so unlikely,” Feige said. “In the first two movies, you were crying over all the characters, Groot [and Yondu], and in this movie, crying for all of them. And really learning about Rocket. That’s one of the things James has said from the beginning. He decided to do this franchise because he realized how he could give empathy to this little raccoon, who insists he’s not a raccoon.”

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, our beloved band of misfitsare settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their livesare upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill,still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him ona dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life — a mission that, if notcompleted successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of theGuardians as we know them.

Starring Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, DaveBautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis,featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, and Sean Gunnas Kraglin, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, Will Poulter asAdam Warlock, and Maria Bakalova as Cosmo, Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens only in theaters May 5th.