With the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 next week, James Gunn has already confirmed that he will return for Guardians of the Galaxy 3. After making that announcement, plenty of questions were thrown at the director about what we can expect from the next installment of the cosmic comic book franchise.

So far we’ve learned that the third movie will complete a trilogy for this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and after that the team line-up will evolve to include new team members who will have been introduced by the end of the trilogy. But that’s not all that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will do. The sequel will help set up the next 10 years of Marvel Studios movies, and James Gunn is key in helping determine which movies will be made.

Find out more about Guardians of the Galaxy 3 below, but beware of huge spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, especially for the credits scenes and cameos.

Will Phase Four Be More Cosmic? James Gunn Will Plant The Seeds For Next Decade

Just recently, Kevin Feige mentioned that what follows The Avengers 4 may not necessarily be Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Marvel boss said “it might be a new thing” entirely. Comments that have followed from both Feige and Gunn have indicated that this new thing may be a direct result of whatever happens in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

In all of the hullabaloo surrounding the press for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Kevin Feige mentioned to The Hollywood Reporter that just as 10 years of Marvel movies have led up to Avengers: Infinity War, the third Guardians of the Galaxy film would help set up the next 10 years of whatever Marvel has planned. In a new interview with The Toronto-Sun, Gunn said this:

“I will be helping to plant the seeds that will lead to the next decade. I’m helping to decide what projects we’ll be pursuing outside of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3… and what the next cosmic characters we will focus on.”

So even outside of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, James Gunn will be developing some other Marvel cosmic projects. That implies that perhaps the next era of Marvel may deal more with the cosmic side of Marvel Comics instead of mostly being on Earth like the first three phases of the MCU. That would make it easier narratively to walk away from characters like Iron Man and Captain America. In fact, by sticking with the cosmic side of the universe, perhaps there’s a way to enter an era of Marvel in an alternate universe that would allow for new versions of those characters that wouldn’t require the return of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.

But What About the Guardians of the Galaxy?

If Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is meant to complete a trilogy and set up the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, what exactly does that mean for the cosmic team of misfits? Well, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 already hints partially at one possible direction the franchise could take with a whole new series of characters.

In addition to Sylvester Stallone appearing as the character Stakar, aka Starhawk, there are several other members of another Guardians of the Galaxy team who make cameos in the movie. They are Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh), Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames), Krugarr (a CG character), Mainframe (voiced by Miley Cyrus) and Martinex (Michael Rosenbaum). And James Gunn indicates that we haven’t seen the last of Starhawk and the rest of the other Guardians from the comics, though it might not happen in Guardians of the Galaxy 3:

“My plan is to see more of him. I’m not sure about him appearing in Vol. 3, we’ll have to see about that, but it’s our plan to see more of Stallone. Kevin [Feige] and I are working on what is going to become of the Marvel Cosmic Universe and where it’s going to go. We plan to see the rest of them in the future.”

Perhaps that means we won’t see these new Guardians appearing in Vol. 3, but they could very well be part of whatever the next phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe entails.

After all, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will include Adam Warlock, a character who was originally a big part of this film’s initial treatment, which could open up all sorts of doors for the MCU. ScreenRant mentions titles like Infinity Watch, The Annihilators or Guardians of Knowhere as possible directions for Marvel to take. Anything is possible, but we’re not likely to find out what follows The Avengers 4 for awhile.