Skip to main content

Director James Gunn eyeing Guardians spinoff focusing on Stallone-led Ravagers

James Gunn 'Guardians' spinoff
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The Guardians of the Galaxy saga represents just one small part of the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it looks like a Guardians spinoff film — or series of films — could already be in the works.

James Gunn, who wrote and directed both Guardians films, admitted in a recent interview with Collider that “there’s always discussion” surrounding a potential spinoff film focusing on the Ravagers, the “original” team of Guardians led by Stakar Ogord (Sylvester Stallone), aka Starhawk.

Recommended Videos

In a short, cheesy post-credits scene from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (spoiler alert!), Stallone — who played a small role in the film’s main plot — is seen reuniting with the rest of his estranged crew: Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames), Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh), Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum), Mainframe (a robot voiced by Miley Cyrus), and Krugarr (some sort of CGI fish-monster thing). Michael Rooker’s Yondu was also part of the Ravager crew prior to the events of the Guardians movies.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

It’s unclear whether the Ravager team will play a larger part in the third Guardians film, for which Gunn will be returning to write and direct, though Gunn did hint at a more substantial role for Stallone’s character in the MCU going forward. He did talk about “finding a place” for Stallone, so it’s possible the kinks are still being worked out there. Guardians 3 figures to wrap things up for the current team of Guardians, though Gunn refused to rule out a fourth entry, saying: “I think that there could be a Guardians Vol. 4, but it would not be the same. It would not be the same group … basically the story of this group ends with Vol. 3.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was released in May to mixed reviews (we thought it was good), but found box office success nonetheless, grossing $860 million worldwide against a $200 million budget. Thus far, most of the movies set within the MCU (about which we learned lots at Comic-Con) have been well-received, deftly blending awesome action sequences with witty scripts to great effect.

We expect that when superheroes and Guardians cross paths in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War (likely to unite against Ebony Maw and Thanos’ villainous Black Order), things are only going to get more epic.

Nick Hastings
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Nick is a Portland native and a graduate of Saint Mary's College of California with a Bachelor's of Communication. Nick's…
The best MCU endings, ranked
T'Challa, Captain America, and Black Widow stand in front of the Wakandan army in "Avengers: Infinity War."

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a franchise that facilitates cross-over events between characters, storylines, and settings throughout its films. Therefore, the endings in each film must set up future stories within the MCU. Sometimes, that can be good, especially if it highlights new characters or projects. Other times, the endings can feel flat if too much focus is dedicated to teasing future films or TV shows.

With the recent release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, there have been 32 movies in the MCU. Below, we rank the five best endings in the MCU.
5. Iron Man (2018)

Read more
Is James Gunn’s top 5 favorite comic book movies list accurate?
Miles swings into action in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."

James Gunn has been a busy man lately. Between making the final installment of his Guardians MCU trilogy, the financially successful Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and gearing up to make his first DC Studios project, Superman: Legacy, the popular director certainly has every right to not indulge in such unimportant pastimes such as eating or breathing. (I'm kidding here, but the guy is super-busy!)

Yet, Gunn found time away from selecting which actor would make the best Superman to divulge a revealing secret. In an interview with GQ, Gunn was asked what his 5 favorite comic book movies are and why. Below is a list of Gunn's choices, which, shockingly, does not include any MCU movie.
5. Deadpool (2016)

Read more
Guardians of the Galaxy or The Suicide Squad: Which James Gunn movie is better?
James Gunn on stage at San Diego Comic-Con.

James Gunn is back for one last ride alongside everyone's favorite a-holes with the highly-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The film acts as the final adventure for the ragtag cosmic family and Gunn's goodbye from Marvel before fully committing to his role as DC Studios' new head. Gunn will next direct Superman: Legacy, entering a ten-year journey with Marvel's chief competitor, effectively pitting him against the studio he called home for the past decade.

Superman: Legacy won't be Gunn's first entry into DC; two years ago, he made his debut with the deranged R-rated action flick The Suicide Squad, a quasi-sequel to 2016's outright awful Suicide Squad. Gunn's style was a perfect fit for Guardians of the Galaxy, but there is no denying that his lunatic glee was better showcased in The Suicide Squad. Both movies are great and cemented Gunn as the most consistent auteur in the superhero space; however, which movie is better -- can they even be compared to each other? I say they can, not only because they have the same director but because they share similar themes and tones that make them ideal if not necessarily perfect, companions. So the question remains: which is better and why?
What a bunch of a-holes

Read more