Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Karen Gillan Teases “Bittersweet” Closing Chapter

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is hooked on a feeling — and the feeling is bittersweet. After Avengers: Endgame ended with the Guardians joining Thor (Chris Hemsworth) on his next cosmic adventure in Taika Waititi’s Thor: Love and Thunder, in theaters July 8, the team of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Groot (Vin Diesel) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) will return to find the missing piece of their family: Nebula’s sister, Gamora (Zoe Saldana). In an interview with Marvel.com, Gillan teased director James Gunn will close a chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Vol. 3: 

“It was such an amazing experience. I loved working on that movie so much, I’m about to burst. I loved it, it was so good,” the Nebula actor said at the world premiere of Thor: Love and Thunder. “I just loved where the character went, I loved working with James again — I’m so glad that he was back with us — it was like the family got reunited.”

Gillan continued, “I think we’ve taken it to a whole new level this time. And you know, there might be, maybe, a feeling of closing out a chapter of sorts, so it’s a little bittersweet, in a sense. But I think everybody has upped it for this one.” 

Gunn has confirmed the final installment of his trilogy is “the last time people will see this team of Guardians,” who came together in the first volume of Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. 

“This is the end for us,” Gunn told the Deadline Hero Nation podcast earlier this year. “It’s big. It’s so, so big and dark, and different from what people might be expecting it to be.”

Gunn added: “I just want to be true to the characters, and I want to be true to the story, and I want to give people the wrap-up they deserve for the story. That is always a little bit scary.”

Though the original Gamora died at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War, the Zehoberei warrior’s displaced past self exists in the present-day MCU after time-traveling from 2014 to 2023 in Avengers: Endgame. (Gamora does not appear in Thor: Love and Thunder, set between the events of Endgame and Vol. 3.) The search for Gamora begins when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in theaters on May 5, 2023. 

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Russell Crowe as Zeus, Jaimie Alexander as Sif, and Chris Pratt, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper as the Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder thunders into theaters July 8.