‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ End-Credits Scene Explained: What’s Next?

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The Big Picture

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• All members of the Guardians of the Galaxy survive and return to Knowhere, but several decide it’s time to retire and move on to their own adventures.
• A new team of Guardians is introduced in the mid-credits scene, led by Rocket and featuring familiar faces and a mysterious new character, potentially setting up future storylines.
• The post-credits scene hints at the return of Star-Lord, with the possibility of a solo film or a role in an upcoming film.

Does Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 have any post-credits scenes? You bet your zargnuts it does, but as with most end-credits sequences, the two scenes at that play for James Gunn‘s final Marvel film raise many questions that warrant explanation. Anyone who has seen a movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe knows there is almost always something waiting for entertained fans in the credits. Sometimes these scenes depict the debut of an upcoming character, teasing a future storyline, or are just a simple end-of-movie gag. In the case of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, both end-credits sequences show the fates of several prominent figures from the titular crew of galactic heroes. Even more significant are what these sequences mean for the larger MCU and how they set up the franchise’s future.

Rocket Becomes the Leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy

With the way the film had been marketed, being touted as the final film in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, many fans were expecting at least one of the team’s members to be dead by the end of the film. Surprisingly, every member of the Guardians of the Galaxy survives and makes it back to Knowhere safe and sound, even though Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) very nearly suffocates in space before being saved in biblical fashion by Adam Warlock (Will Poulter).

Despite Rocket being saved and the crew reuniting, several team members decide it’s time to retire from the Guardians of the Galaxy. The first is Star-Lord, who decides he’s hidden from Earth for far too long and thinks it’s time to reunite with his estranged grandfather (Gregg Henry). Then, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) feels that she needs to find her own place in the galaxy and explore the cosmos, bringing her trio of friendly Abilisks along with her. Finally, Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Drax (Dave Bautista) choose to remain on Knowhere to help rebuild, with Nebula vowing to lead the settlement into a new age of prosperity. At the same time, Drax will be a father figure to the children they rescued from the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji).

With the alternate timeline version of Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) deciding to remain with the Ravagers, that only leaves Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) as the only remaining members of the team. This may sound like the end of the Guardians as we know them, but when Star-Lord gifts Rocket his beloved Zune player, he also declares Rocket the new leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Meet the New Guardians of the Galaxy

Though it seems like the band of heroes has gone their separate ways, the mid-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 shows that the Guardians of the Galaxy are far from gone. The scene opens up on a desolate, arid, alien planet, and we see a new team of Guardians (each wearing the classic comic-accurate uniforms that we saw earlier in the film) entrusted to protect all innocent life in the universe.

As expected, Rocket is the one leading this new generation of benevolent a-holes, completing his evolution from a selfish bounty hunter in the first film into the noble captain we see now. Of course, Rocket wouldn’t go anywhere without his trusted best friend Groot, who is going through another growth spurt and is now a massive Hulk-sized giant busy taking a nap while his teammates are talking. Joining Rocket and Groot on the team are four new members. The first is Kraglin (Sean Gunn), who has become an incredibly formidable fighter now that he’s mastered using Yondu’s (Michael Rooker) all-powerful arrow. Joining Kraglin is his canine companion Cosmo (Maria Bakalova), the psychic space dog who spent most of the movie reprimanding Kraglin for calling her a bad dog. Speaking of all-powerful, Adam Warlock proves that his saving Star-Lord was no fluke, as he’s officially turned over a new leaf and joined the team of heroes.

The sixth and final member is the most exciting and most mysterious, as one of the young women that the Guardians’ rescued has also joined the team. We quickly learn that her name is Phyla, potentially indicating that this new character is none other than a young Phyla-Vell, a prominent Guardian of the Galaxy from the comics. Though her origin in the MCU seems directly tied to the High Evolutionary, in the comics, Phyla is the daughter of the original Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, which technically made her the next in line to become Mar-Vell’s successor. If this character is the Phyla-Vell we know from the comics, this potentially means that the MCU has introduced yet another Young Avenger candidate to join Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), and more. Phyla also clearly has some miraculous powers, but it’s unknown what these powers exactly are and if her many genetically created siblings are just as powerful.

While the new team is hanging out and having a laid-back conversation, they look off into the distance to see a horde of aggressive creatures sprinting toward them. Kraglin is confident he can take them all out with his arrow, but that would rob the team of all their fun. Right before charging into battle, Rocket pulls out his Zune and plays “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone — the first song we ever heard in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and not-so-subtly represents a new beginning for the series.

“The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return”

The post-credits scene at first seems much less exciting in comparison, but is followed by Marvel’s signature “Will Return” title that reveals we’ll be seeing a certain cocky space scoundrel again. The scene is simply Peter having a quiet conversation with the grandfather he hasn’t seen in decades, with the two just talking about everyday human stuff. Apart from a newspaper that Grandpa Quill is reading having a story that reads “Alien Abduction: Kevin Bacon Tells All,” a clear reference to the events of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the scene is largely uneventful.

However, when the film cuts to white, we see a title that reads “The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return.” This potentially is teasing that Peter Quill will be getting his very own solo film for his next adventure or is rather promising we’ll see Peter return to the Multiverse Saga in one of the two upcoming Avengers films. Either way, even though James Gunn has said goodbye to the Guardians of the Galaxy, it sounds like we’ll be seeing the legendary Star-Lord again soon enough.

Guardians of the Galaxy is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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