Warning: This article contains spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder.
Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi has explained why the Guardians of the Galaxy didn't have larger roles in Thor's fourth adventure.
Thor left with the Guardians after the events of Avengers: Endgame and the ragtag group of intergalactic misfits featured prominently in the trailer for Thor 4, leading some people to believe that Star-Lord, Drax, Rocket Racoon, Nebula, Mantis, and Groot were going to have big roles in the movie. As it turned out, they only appeared for a brief couple of minutes.
Speaking to Insider, director Taika Waititi explained what happened to the Guardians of the Galaxy and why they didn't make a return after their opening scenes with Chris Hemsworth's titular character in Thor: Love and Thunder. He said they did consider having them show up at the end of the movie but ultimately decided that it wasn't the right time and place.
"The plan was always to have them in the beginning and then move on. Because they have their own movie. There was talk about having them come back at the end," he revealed, adding: "The thing is that happens in every movie. No more. No more of the cavalry coming at the end. So we shelved that idea. We just wanted Jane to come in at the end."
There are plenty of adventures with the Guardians crew coming up, starting with the I Am Groot series of shorts on Disney+ in August and then, later on in the year, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special that is said to take place between Thor: Love and Thunder and the third Guardians movie, which is now on deck to be released in May 2023.
As for Thor: Love and Thunder, the movie has turned out to be another success story at the box office. The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe earned $302 million in its first weekend at the global box office, having brought in $143 million in North America and another $159 million internationally to secure the 12th-best opening for an MCU title.
IGN awarded Thor: Love and Thunder a 7 out of 10 in its spoiler-free review of the film, noting that the fourth Thor movie may have been slightly "held back by a cookie-cutter plot and a mishandling of supporting characters," but that it ultimately succeeded as the "MCU's first romantic comedy thanks to Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman's chemistry."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.