With “Guardians of the Galaxy” in the rearview and the “Star-Lord will return” tag still hanging over the end of the third ‘Vol. 3’ film, Chris Pratt is already framing Peter Quill’s next chapter as something powered by emotional fallout, not tidy closure, and he has a vision for it too. On the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Pratt said the decision to leave Quill and Gamora without a clean romantic endpoint was ultimately the more interesting choice—and one that sets up richer storytelling down the line.
Looking back on where Quill and Gamora could have gone if the “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” finale followed a more predictable franchise-romance trajectory, Pratt said the ending the films chose was stronger precisely because it didn’t hand them the expected arc. “I don’t think that would have been a good arc for Quill and Gamora,” he said of the two heroes ending up together romantically. “That was, in fact, more interesting
— the way they did it, where [Gamora] came back, she was someone else,” he said, noting how the character died, but then a version of her in the past returned in “Avengers: Endgame,” and had no experience of a relationship with Peter Quill.
Pratt then pointed to the breakup’s emotional residue as the thing that can propel Quill forward, arguing it left him untethered and forced into a new stage of self-definition. “Peter Quill— because that’s a trauma he has in his life, and it didn’t end happily,” he said. “And so now he would be, wherever he should find him, would be in a real position to try to define himself.”
As the conversation moved from character psychology to practical reality—how much is planned and how much is in flux—Pratt described Marvel’s approach as fluid, but stressed he wasn’t simply waiting for marching orders. In fact, he has a very clear idea for where the character’s story goes next.
“I’m happy to do anything they want me to do and will,” he said. “And also, I personally have a really strong vision of what I would want him to do. And I think it’s f*cking great.” He also confirmed he’d already taken that idea to Marvel and Kevin Feige. “Yep,” he said. “And I think that, you know, I’m down to contribute any way I can to them setting up the next ten years of storytelling, you know? And also, I have a pretty strong idea of how I think I could contribute to that.”
He also acknowledged that any future appearance would inevitably feel different without James Gunn shaping the character’s tone, even if he still framed that as the ideal scenario. “In a dream world, it would be somehow James,” Pratt said of who would direct any next version of the ‘Guardians’ or Star-Lord. “But I don’t think that’s likely to happen. So I’d have to think about who would be the right director. There are amazing directors out there.”
Asked if he would return in “Avengers: Doomsday” or “Avengers: Secret Wars,” Pratt wouldn’t say, obviously, but when asked if he knew how Star-Lord, he said “yes and no,” and noted Marvel’s “liquid” approach, i.e., they have an idea, but it’s never set in stone and can constantly shift if neccessary.
Watch the whole conversation below.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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