Galactic Guardians: How Marvel's GotG Spinoff Team Could Come To The MCU

For many years, the Guardians of the Galaxy team was a cornerstone of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite being a group comprised of misfits from across the cosmos. Fans came to love the team's family dynamics and the backstories of the individual members, taking it from a largely unknown unit to a fan-favorite stable. With the release of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," the titular team as we knew it is no more, with most of the members going their separate ways. It remains to be seen if a fourth movie is in the cards, but if not, there's a perfect spin-off waiting to be made.

Back in the early 1990s, Marvel Comics readers met a brand new space-faring superhero team called the Galactic Guardians. Led by the crystalline Martinex T'Naga, he founded the team to do the work that he didn't feel the Guardians of the Galaxy were doing to keep the cosmos safe. Thus, alongside the likes of Firelord, Hollywood, and Replica, he set out to make it a galactic force for good. Since Martinex exists in the MCU — played by Michael Rosenbaum — as one of the Ravagers, perhaps he and fellow Ravager Gamora (Zoe Saldana) could form this team down the road for one reason or another, giving the MCU a spiritual successor to the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Of course, in the wake of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," the possibilities are virtually endless in terms of which spin-offs we could see come to fruition.

On paper, a Galactic Guardians series or movie has a lot of potential. Maybe with its roots in the Ravagers, it could start off as something of an anti-Guardians of the Galaxy that uses deadlier methods and focuses more on the monetary aspect of helping those in need. This could even blossom into a feud with Rocket Raccoon's (Bradley Cooper) new Guardians, with Martinex's crew learning what it means to be proper heroes in the end. Alternatively, if the Galactic Guardians aren't on Marvel Studios' radar, it stands to reason that fans can expect any number of "Guardians of the Galaxy" spin-off endeavors.

First and foremost, a Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) project of some kind could be on the way. It's teased after the credits of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" that Peter Quill — who has returned to Earth to live with his biological family — will return to the MCU in the future. At the same time, maybe Marvel Studios also has its sights set on a series or movie dedicated to Rocket and his Guardians team, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and her pet Abilisks, or even Nebula (Karen Gillan) running things on Knowhere. Of course, all of these hypotheticals depend on which "Guardians" actors are willing to return to the Marvel fold.

The Guardians of the Galaxy's corner of the MCU likely won't disappear forever, but when moviegoers will return to it and which characters will be at the forefront is anyone's guess for the time being.