‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Star Officially Retires From MCU Role

The Guardians of the Galaxy star, who first appeared in the MCU over a decade ago, has confirmed his exit from the role.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is in the middle of a major comeback. After a few muddled years, weighed down by a slew of Disney+ shows and movies that didn’t quite tap into audiences like they used to, Marvel Studios is on track to deliver a major end-of-year blast with the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday (2026).

Hot on the tail of Destin Daniel Cretton’s record-breaking Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) starring Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) and Zendaya (MJ), Avengers: Doomsday will see the return of many legacy characters from across the MCU portfolio, as well as a new villain in the form of Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom.

Downey Jr.’s Victor Von Doom replaces Kang the Conqueror as the new Big Bad of the franchise, with the Russo directing duo and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige calling this upcoming movie–and its sequel, 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars–a fresh start for the MCU. The next chapter is set to feature the X-Men and gained steam at this year’s D23 Expo, where further casting was announced for the iconic mutant squad. The likes of Maya Boyd and Inde Navarrette will join Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey as Ororo Munroe/Storm, and Rogue, respectively.

While Doomsday‘s cast is sprawling, some notable names are missing from the line-up. For example, none of the Guardians of the Galaxy team is slated to appear. James Gunn’s trilogy ended three years ago, but the story of the misfit squad was left largely open-ended. Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill/Star-Lord returned to Earth (and a post-credits tag let audiences know he would return), while Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Drax (Dave Bautista) remained in various parts of the cosmos.

As for Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper/Sean Gunn) and Groot (Vin Diesel), the pair built a second team of Guardians ready to tackle new threats. The final moments of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) saw the gang, featuring the likes of Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova) and Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), engaging in their next mission.

While it remains unclear whether audiences will ever see these characters again, some have already confirmed that their involvement in the MCU is over. Dave Bautista, for example, has been incredibly vocal about his exit from playing Drax moving forward. But another star has now confirmed their retirement from their role.

Sean Gunn has played Kraglin Obfonteri in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies since 2014. However, not only does he portray Kraglin, but the actor also provides motion capture for Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) across Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

“Sean Gunn has no plans to continue his motion capture role for Guardians of the Galaxy character Rocket Raccoon,” writes the Los Angeles Times.

Gunn, who also jumped over to DC Studios to play Maxwell Lord in his brother James Gunn’s Superman (2025), explained that the role is getting too physically demanding.

“I think it had a little bit of an effect on my physiology. My knees are fine, but since I turned 50 a couple of years ago, I am retired from playing Rocket,” Gunn said on The Brandon Davis Show (via the LA Times). “I don’t think I can do the motion reference anymore for Rocket. I think I’m too old.”

With the Multiverse era of the MCU coming to a close and a singular timeline all but confirmed to be reinstated, it will be interesting to see if Marvel Studios ever brings the Guardians of the Galaxy team back. They are popular, after all. Amid the concerning box office landscape of the post-pandemic period and Marvel’s own woes at movie theaters, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 managed to secure a tidy $845.5 million globally (per Box Office Mojo).

This was particularly notable because it was released just a few months after the critical and commercial bomb Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), starring Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man).

How do you feel about the current state of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let us know in the comments down below!