As James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes close to its set premiere date, Mantis actress Pom Klementieff revealed they’re in talks to join Gunn's DCU after Vol. 3 is behind them. This news came during a red-carpet interview at the film’s Hollywood premiere.Based on the Marvel Comics characters of the same name, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a group of spacefaring outlaws that (as the name suggests) safeguard the galaxy from any incoming intergalactic danger, first appearing as the eponymous characters of their 2014 MCU debut (retroactively designated as Volume 1) with the team initially consisting of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. The first film was well-received, with Gunn calling the Mass Effect franchise a big inspiration for his work on it.With the announcement that Guun would head up the DC film division alongside Peter Safran, the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director has found himself with a new Cinematic Universe to build and several open spots for stars to fill in his new canon. Predictably, this has led to some of the stars he’s worked with on MCU projects being in the running for these DCU roles, specifically Klementieff, who has portrayed Mantis in 4 MCU films, including the last two Guardians of the Galaxy projects. Speaking about joining the DCU to Variety at a premiere for Vol. 3, Klementieff said, "I'm not going to tell you guys, but we've had conversations, and we're like making plans already. But nothing is confirmed yet."
“There would be one specific character, but I can't tell you now," the actress continued, declining to give any more details as to the specifics of the role. When asked how far along the talks about her signing on were, she responded, "I don't know. It's in progress." While the actress refused to open up about what role she was in the running for, she did mention that she "...knew about the character yeah, and …thought the character was f****** cool." With Gunn already establishing that The Flash movie would act as a soft reboot of the DCEU and open up the doors for his ambitious restructuring of the franchise with all new projects, there are an endless number of roles that a talent like Klementieff could be in consideration for.
It was clear that Gunn planned to end his Guardians of the Galaxy run with Vol. 3, with the director stating as much before his responsibilities on the DC Extended Universe. However, many people suspect some stars of his previous MCU project would join him. "This cast are like my family,” Gunn said about his relationship with the Guardians of the Galaxy stars. “I cannot tell you how close I am to Chris Pratt and Pom [Klementieff] and Dave [Bautista] and Zoe [Saldaña] and Karen [Gillan]. But I also know I will work again with all those people individually again. Probably at my other job.” That last line now seems to have been a pretty clear expression of intent, more so than a throwaway comment.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to premiere on the 5th of May, 2023.
Source: Variety