Don’t Worry, James Gunn Has Big Plans For Kraglin In Guardians 3

Kraglin in Guardians 2

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a massive place, with tons of characters populating the various franchises. But certain properties stand out among the rest as fan favorites, like James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Gunn masterfully introduced each member of the team, who are given both comedy and heart. One of the supporting character in the franchise is Sean Gunn's Kraglin, a Ravager who was especially close with Yondu. And it looks like James Gunn has big plans for his brother's character.

Sean Gunn has an interesting role in the MCU. In addition to playing Kraglin, he also stands in for Rocket during filming, including his appearances in the Avengers movies. Kraglin was noticeably absent from Endgame, despite the actor filming a scene in the final battle. James Gunn was recently asked about the character, to which he said:

I have big plans for Kraglin but you'll have to wait and see what!

How delightfully cryptic. It'll be a number of years before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 finally arrives in theaters, so fans will be left to wonder about how Kraglin will factor into the story. But clearly the director has a plan in place. Although it should be interesting to see how the threequel is influenced by the Guardians comics, which you can catch up on here.

James Gunn's comments come from his recent (long) Instagram Q&A. The filmmaker fielded all sorts of questions from the fans, using social media to directly answer those burning queries. Eventually the conversation turned to Kraglin, who ended up on the cutting room floor of Avengers: Endgame. Not only does Gunn know what he's going to do with the character moving forward, but the plans are apparently large in scale.

It seems like Kraglin goes go seemingly anywhere moving forward, especially now that he's become more of a leader within the Ravagers. The group of space pirates got involved in the final battle against Thanos, bringing extra forces to fight his army alongside the Wakandans and Masters of the Mystic Arts. Yondu is also now in possession of Yondu's signature arrow, with fans eager to see him dispatch of enemies with the iconic weapon.

Related: Sean Gunn Got Super Close To Thor’s Belly While Filming Avengers: Endgame

Kraglin was last seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which showed his loyalty to Yondu in the face of the Ravager mutiny. And after mourning him during the firework-laden funeral, Kraglin shakily attempted to use Yondu's deadly arrow-- to hilarious results. But he didn't actually join the Guardians of the Galaxy, not present when the group ran into Thor (literally) in Avengers: Infinity War.

It should be interesting to see how James Gunn ends his trilogy with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and how it services each member of the team. Kraglin is more of an honorary Guardian, although that has the potential to change with the upcoming threequel. But clearly the director has a specific vision, including one for his brother's character.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to arrive in theaters sometime in 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.