Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 post-credits scenes: How many there are and what they mean

Today, May 5, 2023, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters, and the question is: Does it have post-credits scenes? Do we need to warm up our seats a little more when the lights come up? Being a Marvel movie, the answer is obvious: of course. But is it worth it?

The answer is another textbook yes. There are two post-credits scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, and while they do not reveal too much about the future of Marvel and Phase 5, they do serve to know the future of the Guardians themselves. In case you missed them or want to gut them, below we go over everything they show.

Spoiler Warning.

Explanation of the first post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The first post-credits scene of the movie shows us the new Guardians of the Galaxy, the successors of Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Mantis and Nebula. Of the original team, only Groot and Rocket remain, the latter as the new leader and captain.

Joining the gang are Cosmo (the little dog with telepathic powers), Kraglin (Yondu’s successor, who has learned to direct Yondu’s arrow with his whistles), Adam Warlock (one of the MCU’s most powerful characters, somewhat infantilized in Guardians 3), and Phyla-Vell (one of the girls rescued from the High Evolutionary, genetically enhanced and with amazing abilities).

The six appear to share their favorite songs just before facing a new threat, a new job as mercenaries (sorry, Guardians). It’s a moment that makes more than a little sense, as the song Rocket quotes is the most iconic one from the first movie, the one that introduced us to Star Lord and has been played ad nauseam in the trailers. A textbook coming full circle.

It will be this quirky team that will star in new Guardians of the Galaxy installments (if any) and that we will see in team crossovers and cameos in all future Marvel films (perhaps in the upcoming Avengers?).

Explanation of the second post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The second post-credits scene is even more emotional. It focuses on Star Lord, Chris Pratt’s wonderful Peter Quill, returning to Earth to meet his 90-year-old grandfather. Considering how important family has been to the character and the trilogy (remember, the first movie was about his mother’s story and the second was about his father’s), it’s like watching him complete his hero’s journey, a perfect ending. Sorry, did we say ending?

Aside from the gag with his grandfather, the real fun of the second post-credits scene is the phrase that appears on screen: “the legendary Star Lord will return”. That is to say that we will see Chris Pratt again in the Marvel Universe and that he will surely appear in future installments. In fact, already in the promotional interviews of the film, although his cast mates like Zoe Saldana (Gamora) and Dave Bautista (Drax) have withdrawn from Guardians of the Galaxy, the actor of Peter Quill has repeated over and over again that he does not close the door to return “if it makes sense”.