Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now playing in quite a few locations, but if you still haven't managed to see Marvel Studios' second Phase 5 film, be warned that major spoilers follow from this point on.
Though James Gunn's final GOTG movie (for the time being, at least) is mostly standalone in nature, it does set up future projects in a couple of ways, most notably by introducing a character who could become a powerful new hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
When Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) infiltrate the High Evolutionary's (Chukwudi Iwuji) ship, they discover that the megalomaniacal villain is keeping dozens of children in cages. It's not made clear if they are the results of his attempts to produce a "master race" or simply prisoners he's been using for his experiments, but the Guardians manage to rescue them and give them a new home on Knowhere.
Later, in the mid-credits scene (more on that here), we see that Rocket is leading a new team of Guardians, and one of the kids, Phyla (Kai Zen), is now a member. We don't learn much more about her here, but she certainly appears to have some impressive abilities.
In the comics, Phyla-Vell is the daughter of Mar-Vell and sister of Genis-Vell, and held the mantle of Captain Marvel herself at one point. She has also gone by Quasar and Martyr.
Introducing a teenage take on this character gives Marvel Studios plenty of options when it comes to how she'll be utilized going forward, but if there is a Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4, Phyla-Vell is sure to be front and center.
Do you plan on checking out GOTG Vol. 3 this weekend?
"In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past." "Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life—a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them."
Gunn writes and directs Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, and Maria Bakalova. Kevin Feige is the producer and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nikolas Korda, Simon Hatt, and Sara Smith serve as executive producers.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives in theaters on May 5, 2023.