https://blackgirlnerds.com/with-peter-quill-enjoying-some-much-needed-earth-time-after-gotg3-whats-next-for-star-lord/

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was James Gunn’s latest and perhaps last work within the MCU, and it was an absolute blast. Warner Bros. Discovery subsequently hired James Gunn to help the company revive its DC cinematic universe, which left fans wondering whether the Guardians movies will continue and what exactly happened to the team following the ending of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Most specifically, the fans want to know what will happen to Star-Lord, now that he has left the guardians and returned to Earth.

Before we dive into what could happen in future narratives, let’s explore exactly why Peter has left the Guardians and went back to Earth to spend time with his grandfather. We promise it will make sense. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has its fair share of heartbreaking moments, and Peter Quill losing Gamora was one of them. Later on, he found Gamora again, but that was a whole different variant of Gamora, so he had his heart broken. Once again.

Despite all the humor and shenanigans surrounding Star-Lord, life wasn’t actually kind to Quill. He witnessed his mother dying right in front of him; he was kidnapped by Ravagers, who also behaved unkindly towards him, until Yondu, the leader of the Ravagers, decided to begrudgingly show Peter affection. He later left the Ravagers, and things started to look better for the Star-Lord, as he found friends in the most unlikely of places — a galactic prison — leading to the formation of the Guardians of the Galaxy team.

But then he got to meet his dad, Ego the Living Planet, who sought to use Quill as a battery to power his own expansion throughout the universe. If that alone wasn’t bad, Peter found out that Ego was the very source of the tumor that killed his mom, and upon defying his father, Ego tried to kill him as well. Fortunately, that didn’t work, and right when the Guardians saved the universe from one evil tyrant, another emerged. Of course we’re talking about Thanos, who deleted half of the population in the entire universe with a snap of his fingers, including Quill.

Upon coming back to life, courtesy of Iron Man (a scene we like to call “when grown people cried”), Peter learned that Gamora hasn’t returned, since she didn’t die in the Snap. He eventually found a version of her that’s now rolling with the Ravagers. However, that’s not the Gamora he fell in love with but a variant who doesn’t want him and doesn’t even want to know who he is. Then Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 happened, and both Rocket and Quill nearly died.

At the end of the movie, Peter realizes that he needs a break after experiencing the trauma of meeting and clashing with his father, failing to stop Thanos, losing Gamora, and almost losing Rocket. So, he decides to go back to Earth and try to make some new, better memories of his homeworld and spend time with whatever family he might still have left. As it turns out, his grandfather is still alive. This prompted fans to question what will happen to Quill now that he has returned to Earth. Is it time to meet the new Star-Lord?

Marvel’s strategy of introducing new characters to replace older ones, seen notably with the original Avengers, raises further questions about the original Star-Lord’s longevity in the MCU timeline. Well, as it turns out, the post-credits scene at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 offers some insight into the future of Star-Lord, as it hints (it actually outright announces) towards a possible “Legendary Star-Lord” movie, suggesting a future storyline in which Quill navigates Earth’s environment.

Chris Pratt, the actor portraying the iconic Star-Lord, has already confirmed that he would return to the role and the franchise even without Gunn being involved, considering that his character still hasn’t totally worked out his issues by the end of GotG Vol. 3, so that movie was hardly a definitive send-off. This, in combination with the post-credits announcement, raises the question of whether Pratt would return as Quill in a possible fourth Guardians movie or completely separate cinematic releases.

The only two major releases we have lined up right now are Avengers: Secret Wars and the movie that’s supposed to be Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. This film has slowed its development following the whole range of issues with the actor portraying the film’s Big Bad, Jonathan Majors. The former could be an interesting idea; with the appearance of Battleworld — a universe comprised of multiple universes — it’s not outside the realm of possibilities for us to meet several different Peter Quills, including the one who just returned to Earth and one who never left.

We might even meet a version of Peter Quill, who ended up marrying Gamora, or Kitty Pryde version of the character. Whatever the case may be, the multiversal nature of the upcoming Secret Wars, the whispered-about Nova project (in which Quill would fit perfectly) and the post-credits scene all point towards the fact that we haven’t seen the last of the Star Lord.