The Guardians of the Galaxy series is perhaps the biggest surprise hit of the Marvel Cinematic Universe phenomenon. Only one filmmaker has managed to bring a pack of characters from relative obscurity to the highest levels of pop-culture appreciation, and that filmmaker is preparing to end his tenure with the project.
There may be no film director currently enjoying a bigger spotlight than James Gunn. Between his blockbuster series Peacemaker and his many hotly anticipated upcoming films, Gunn has gone from cult darling to certified hit-maker. The MCU was perhaps his introduction to the world of big-budget films, but after he's completed his trilogy, he's moving on.
The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is perhaps the most creator-driven aspect of the MCU. The Iron Man, or Thor, or Captain America corner of the empire each have multiple directors crafting their stories, but Guardians is Gunn's baby. The narrative has been clever, thrilling, emotionally cathartic, sprawling, and packed with Gunn's peculiar hallmarks. Tons of the other members of the cast have made it clear that they won't stick around after the director leaves the project. Dave Bautista announced his planned departure ages ago. With this in mind, it's fair to say that Guardians can't exist as fans know it without its central director. But, the franchise, at least in its source material, hasn't always consisted of the same team members. Maybe a new team of Guardians of the Galaxy could fill the hole left after Gunn's departure.
The Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise is based around the 2008 team, but the name belonged to an entirely different team in the 60s. The original Guardians consisted of known Ravager Yondu Udonta, Vance Astro, Martinex T'Naga, and Captain Charlie-27. Astro is a human mutant with psychokinetic superpowers. Martinex is a crystalline humanoid capable of shooting lasers and altering temperature. Charlie-27 is a musclebound altered-human who briefly appeared in the second film, as portrayed by Ving Rhames.
Those four heroes were the original Guardians who did battle with hostile aliens and universal threats. A few of them have dropped into the films, usually as brief cameos amongst the ravagers. Michael Rooker's Yondu is largely unrelated to the 60s iteration of the character, and died in the second film, leaving him out of the running. Aside from that initial team, there are also plenty of team members that weren't central to the team that could fill the ranks.
Adam Warlock is coming to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. His absence was perhaps the most significant of any character from the comics, so his inclusion ensures Gunn's fingerprints will be on the majority of the franchise. There are yet more characters not included though. Moondragon is a tremendously powerful telepath and also Drax's daughter. Of course, Drax is extremely different in the comics, but Moondragon is a powerful psychic ally of the Guardians. Moondragon's partner Phyla-Vell is an alien hybrid who can fly and shoot energy beams. Jack Flag is a Captain America sidekick who gets similar powers through a knock-off serum. Several more established superheroes have made their way onto the team. Any combination of these characters could form a new Guardians of the Galaxy team and likely carry their own films, but this misses the point.
One prudent idea might be to look at the brief occasions that other filmmakers have held sway over the Guardians characters. Star-Lord and crew pop in on both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Those films were directed by the Russo brothers and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. James Gunn wrote GOTG Vol. 2 and co-wrote Vol. 1, so he's just about the only person to write the characters before the Avengers films. These films did a solid job with the characters, even providing some interesting emotional development for a couple of them. Star-Lord and Gamora's relationship became a solid fact under those writers. While they did a fine job with the Guardians characters, it's hard to imagine a full film in that franchise without Gunn.
Though not technically a part of the MCU, the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series handles the characters pretty well without James Gunn. But, that series wasn't held to the standard of the MCU films. It's a completely different project to manage characters in an ensemble piece or an animated spin-off series than it is to handle Gunn's very specific personal narrative. Even if other Guardians could fill the team, even if other writers can occasionally handle the characters, Gunn is essential to the franchise. The series that he built should be allowed to die as he leaves it.
Gunn's fingerprint on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is too significant to continue the series beyond him, but that doesn't mean that the MCU can't fill that space. Don't just keep the name for recognition, create a new team of space-faring heroes with a new creator. The MCU can grow and change only if new voices and names are allowed to flourish.