Star-Lord’s Marvel Movie Return Could Be With the X-Men

This article contains Guardians of the Galaxy 3 spoilers

The final track might’ve played on James Gunn’s time with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but rest assured, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn’t quite the end of the story. While series mainstays Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldaña, and Sean Gunn claim they’re also done, one lovable rogue is sticking around for more. Aside from Chris Pratt himself teasing Peter Quill’s return, Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 3 quite literally spells it out for us.  

A cryptic post-credits teaser of “The Legendary Star-Lord will return” confirms the music-loving hero has at least one more MCU outing in his arsenal. Don’t expect Pratt to suddenly lead a Disney+ Star-Lord series next week, and remember, he’s already expressed an interest in joining Gunn in the DC Universe. As it’s simply a case of when Star-Lord will be blasting off again, let’s look at where Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 leaves him and where the MCU could take him next. 

It’s All in the Name

As those on Earth, and even Quill’s grandfather, have no idea who the Guardians of the Galaxy are, the mantle of Legendary Star-Lord is either a title of Quill’s creation or hints at more cosmic adventures. The MCU plays fast and loose with the source material, with the Guardians lineup focusing on the modern roster instead of the OG’s. Still, Quill had a solo Marvel Comics series fairly recently in 2014, with the 12-issue run being conveniently called Legendary Star-Lord. 

Written by Sam Humphries and featuring art by Paco Medina, Legendary Star-Lord followed Quill breaking away from the Guardians and honed in on his complicated relationship with his father, J’Son. As the former King of Spartax, J’Son used to lead a planetary system that frequently clashed with the Kree and Skrulls. Given that Gunn gave Star-Lord an entirely different backstory and revamped Ego the Living Planet as his father for 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we guess his return would follow the miniseries in name alone. 

Similarly, the fact the comic introduces the character of Captain Victoria as Quill’s half-sister is unlikely, given Pom Klementieff’s Mantis fleshing out the family tree. However, there’s one arc with plenty of potential – involving Star-Lord’s romance with a prominent member of the X-Men.

Romance Is on the Horizon

While it’s sad that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 didn’t bring Star-Lord and new (or is it old) Gamora together, it sets him up for a more interesting future. Even though it might sound like an unlikely pairing, Legendary Star-Lord started a relationship between Quill and Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat. The phasing favorite is a major mutant who was famously played by Elliot Page in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past. 

Following Legendary Star-Lord, Quill and Pryde fought alongside each other in 2015’s Secret Wars crossover, which is poised for the live-action treatment in 2026’s Avengers: Secret Wars. Secret Wars had its own side story, with Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde featuring the pair in a war-torn Battleworld.

With an X-Men reboot on the horizon, a new version of Kitty is expected to join the MCU. There’s been a slow tease of X-Men, thanks to Tenoch Huerta’s Namor and Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan being confirmed as mutants. Hugh Jackman is back as Wolverine for Deadpool 3, and all eyes are on Shawn Levy’s movie for a “proper” introduction of Charles Xavier’s Gifted Youngsters into the MCU.

As pointed out by Heavy Spoilers, “The Legendary Star-Lord will return” is black text on a white background, which is different to Thor: Love and Thunder’s confirmation that Chris Hemsworth will be back for more. Heading into wild theory territory, the Legendary Star-Lord could be an alternate timeline version similar to the Earth-838 Illuminati from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Going with this, it’s possible Pryde could be Star-Lord from an alternate reality. In the comics, Shadowcat eventually took on the mantle of Star-Lord/Star-Lady when Quill became the Emperor of Spartax. 

The Future of the Guardians

It’s important to note that Star-Lord is (so far) the only Guardian to have his future confirmed. A mythical Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 is cued by Vol. 3’s new lineup of Rocket, Groot, Cosmo, and Kraglin suiting up alongside Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vell. Rocket Raccoon is currently the de facto leader, but that isn’t to say Kitty can’t play into some far-off project with the Guardians. 

Presumably to keep the secrecy that Quill was making it out of Vol. 3, there’s been no word on a sneaky Star-Lord cameo on upcoming outings like The Marvels, then again, with Pete enjoying the company of his grandpa on Earth, darting across the cosmos again couldn’t be further from his mind. With his heritage also overhauled, it’s hard to see him fitting into the Skrull-based fight of Secret Invasion. As Legendary Star-Lord serves as a prelude to Secret Wars, the pieces fit together nicely with Pratt’s return happening in the next few years while the Guardians “rest.” 

Considering there’s already been The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, it’s doubtful all this fanfare is for more of the same. Though a Star-Lord Disney+ series is unlikely, could one of Marvel’s unannounced Phase 6 movies be a standalone adventure for Quill? Or will the studio save its expensive Pratt appearances for the upcoming Avengers movies? Either way, we expect the actor to be flexing his muscles behind the controls of another ship named after a musical legend before too long.