Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 is set to be another big success for Marvel, so we can understand Kevin Feige’s comment that James Gunn's input would help shape the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the Infinity War. With the movie’s release just a week away, the director has expressed his thoughts on the shared universe’s future phases.
You may have heard that Gunn intends to completely change the Guardians roster after Guardians of the Galaxy 3. And that’s not all; the director also said that he plans to expand the role Sylvester Stallone plays in this year's sequel.
Stallone's Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 role has been a topic of speculation since it was revealed that the action icon would appear. However, we only recently learned that his character would be Starhawk, who’s one of the original comic book Guardians. On top of that, one of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 credits scenes indicates that more original members already exist in the MCU.
Could this be a hint of what’s to come in the shared universe? Maybe, but it could also be a simple Easter Egg, something fun for the fans to discover.
What’s certain is that James Gunn told the Toronto Sun that he wants to further develop Stallone's character in future MCU movies. Apparently, Stallone agrees:
Early on in my career, I became fascinated with mythology. Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces, and so on and so forth. When I started doing Rambo, [I came to understand that] there's an evolution that takes place. Every generation has to find itself, define its own heroes, define its own mythology. And [the MCU] is this generation's – and maybe even the next generation's – mythology. And when Kevin invited me on board, I said, “This is interesting, because I haven't gone here. I'm kind of Earth-bound. I'm terrestrial. This is something that takes place in a whole other sphere where James and the Marvel people have created their own world, their own reality.”
So I said, “Yeah, let me visit. Let me drop in here and see what's up, where the future is going.” And it was great. It got me out of the house, [away] from my three daughters. And that's why I gave them my salary back (via Screen Rant).
It remains to be seen whether audiences will accept this version of Starhawk. But if we can trust the numbers, this question has already been answered.
