With the future of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 a total mystery, Avengers: Endgame couldn’t have come along at a better time. But the next Avengers movie could actually do more than just bring the MCU’s Guardians back to life. It could also help to unite their newest enemies: a group that calls themselves the Dark Guardians.

The villainous alliance is brand new in the world of Marvel Comics, introduced as the first enemies facing the new rebooted Guardians of the Galaxy led by Peter Quill and the newly punk rock Groot. With major powers at their disposal, and being led by Thanos’ very own brother on a mission of revenge, the Dark Guardians would be the kind of threat that the MCU versions of Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot have never faced before.

Believe it or not, the story of Avengers: Endgame could set the pieces perfectly for the debut of this villainous team in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Not convinced? Then allow us to break it all down.

  • This Page: Who Are Marvel’s New, Dark Guardians? Page 2: How Avengers: Endgame Can Create Dark Guardians

Meet Marvel’s New, Dark Guardians

Marvel fans who find the idea of a team of “dark Guardians of the Galaxy” exciting are in luck, since the team has only recently made its formal debut in Guardians of the Galaxy #2. Collecting iconic cosmic heroes like the Shi’ar Gladiator, Wraith, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and even Nebula, the team has gathered for a mission personally offered by Starfox, the brother and longtime opponent of Thanos. And though their name admits that their mission is a dark one, it doesn’t make them villains… just warriors willing to do what’s necessary to protect the galaxy - without allowing emotion to cloud their mind.

That’s one area in which the Dark Guardians have the regular Guardians beat, since emotion and hurt feelings has basically wiped out the Guardians team fans know (especially after Drax died to save the universe). But the really bad news? The Dark Guardians only have one real mission ahead of them…

The Dark Guardians Want Gamora Dead

The Avengers may be forming a plan to undo the decimation Thanos unleashed on the MCU, but in the comics, the Mad Titan has been slain and beheaded by his daughter Gamora. But even death - real, actual, ‘we can’t find his head’ death - isn’t enough to stop Thanos forever. He’s planned for his demise by making sure his preserved consciousness is forced into a new body, meaning a new Thanos is going to return.

The top candidates have been chosen, and these cosmic outlaws willing to do what they must have begun their hunt. They are the Dark Guardians, and they are going to kill Gamora to make sure Thanos stays dead. Which is exactly the story that Avengers: Endgame can set in motion, and give Guardians of the Galaxy 3 a brand new direction.

Page 2 of 2: How Endgame Can Launch The MCU’s Dark Guardians

Endgame May Kill Thanos… But Doom Gamora

No matter how the heroes of Avengers: Endgame manage to do it, everyone expects that the iconic ‘Thanos Snap’ will be reversed (with a trip through a quantum time vortex with Ant-Man one of the top theories). And whether Thanos is killed or somehow defeated and imprisoned, fans shouldn’t rush to assume that everyone else who was worked into his master plan will get to have a completely fresh start. Especially not Gamora, once the rumors spread of her role in helping Thanos gain all the Infinity Stones, before she was left in his wake along with the dead of Xandar, Asgard, Knowhere, and more.

For now, the actual timeline of the future, reset MCU is anyone’s guess. Will the dead return? Will snap survivors remember those who were lost? Or will a new timeline be created… one in which Gamora never betrayed Thanos, perhaps? No matter the answer, outlaws in the MCU will have their reasons to kill Gamora. Maybe because she helped Thanos slay thousands (which a deleted scene confirms). Maybe because she’s deemed an accomplice, or a tool Thanos used to kill billions. Or maybe just that she remains a threat so long as Thanos exists, and a prime target for anyone seeking revenge.

There’s no shortage of reasons to want to find and kill Gamora, all of which become the Guardians’ main problem post-Endgame. A fact which opens the door to the formation of the Dark Guardians in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, setting the stage for a new, deadly, and above all earned Guardians threat.

Dark Guardians vs. The Real Guardians

It doesn’t take too much imagination to see why Endgame could bring Gamora back to life… before sending her off on her own quest to truly understand what effect her death and connection to the Soul Stone may have left behind. After all, she wasn’t simply “snapped” out of existence like every other Guardian. So Infinity War already showed why she might part ways with her found family in Endgame… but the Dark Guardians would be just the thing to reunite them.

Star-Lord won’t need an excuse to track Gamora down once he learns a band of outlaws wants her dead. But after Thanos is dead, Drax will need a new reason to keep on living instead of joining his family. Rocket never got the chance to prove he would fight for his newfound family. Nebula racing across the galaxy to protect her sister could finally cement her role among the Guardians, and Groot… well, he’s Groot.

That still only covers the heroes’ side of a Dark Guardians storyline. There would also be the chance to introduce half a dozen new cosmic villains, antiheroes, or actual heroes, since the mission to kill Gamora isn’t actually that ’evil.’ With fans long demanding to see Nova come to the MCU, or possibly even a payoff of Thor: Ragnarok’s Beta Ray Bill Easter Egg, the Dark Guardians would be the perfect opportunity. Not to mention their leader Starfox, is rumored for Marvel’s coming Eternals movie, too. The stars are aligned for Marvel to make it happen, so hopefully the studio will take this opportunity to give the Guardians of the Galaxy a fresh start - while coming full circle to the formation of the team in their very first film.

It may be a long shot, but it may also be just where James Gunn’s script for Guardians 3 was headed toward on its own, meaning only slight corrections may be needed to give the Guardians a fresh start. But how well it can work thanks to the MCU’s other films, and whether or not the filmmakers and studio realize that are different questions. Here’s hoping the Dark Guardians are Marvel’s answer in their cosmic movie universe, as well as the comics.

MORE: Everything You Need To Know About Guardians Vol. 3

  • The Avengers 4 Release Date: 2019-04-26 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Release Date: 2023-05-05 captain marvel Release Date: 2019-03-08