James Gunn has been, and continues to be, one of the most vocal members of the Marvel stable, giving multiple interviews about his first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and remaining relatively open about his process in developing the sequel. Although he has a few years before Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will be in theaters, Gunn has seen the future plans of his parent company, Marvel Studios, and he has some strong opinions about where he thinks his beloved characters can, should and will fall.
For instance, many fans feel that James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy 2 movie will exist as a set up to the much larger The Avengers: Infinity War that the studio has earmarked for 2018 and 2019. And yet, on The Q&A with Jeff Goldsmith, Gunn continued to beat the drum that his franchise "isn’t all about leading towards Avengers. We’re not subservient to The Avengers." And fans waiting for a team up might want to be very, very patient. Gunn said:
Whether or not at some point, some Guardians and some Avengers meet up and meet somewhere in the world, whether it’s two years from now, three years from now, four years from now, fifteen years from now…I’m not going to say. But Guardians of the Galaxy does not exist as a prequel to Avengers 3 and 4. They have their own thing that they’re involved in. They have their own mythos that they’re involved in. They have their own stories that are equally important."
In the same podcast, James Gunn talks about how he views the role of the Guardians movies, for now, as a means to expanding the Marvel Cosmic side, which makes sense when you realize that the studio is placing focus on the characters of Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel as Phase Three rolls along. I actually think that we will see the Guardians interacting with THOSE characters before we get to see Peter Quill and Rocket trading quips with Captain America and Hawkeye.
The future of comic book properties seems bright. As you can see by this fantastic mash up video, fans are clamoring for bigger and better team up scenarios. If I had to place a bet, I’d guess that Marvel has big plans for crossovers by the time they get to Infinity War, so that heroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men and The Fantastic Four can chip in during the fight against Thanos. But as for the Guardians? Don’t hold your breath just yet.
