Alleged Marvel Insider Claims ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ Floundering At The Box Office Could Be The Beginning Of The End For The Marvel Cinematic Universe

John F. Trent |

May 4, 2023

(L-R): Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo by Jessica Miglio. © 2023 MARVEL.

An alleged Marvel insider recently shared his thoughts that if Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 flounders at the box office as recent projections indicate it will, it could be the beginning of the end for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

(L-R): Miriam Shor as Recorder Vim, Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, and Nico Santos as Recorder Theel in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo by Jessica Miglio. © 2023 MARVEL.

This inside information comes amid recent reports that the film’s projected box office continues to decline towards Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania territory, a film that lost, on the conservative end, $40 million for Marvel Studios.

Projections at Box Office Pro claim the film will only bring in $115.2 million in its opening weekend. This is significantly down from it initial long range projection where they claimed it would bring in anywhere between $120 million and $155 million in its opening weekend.

Variety also recently predicted the film would bring in $120 in its opening weekend. However, the outlet also cited “independent tracking services” that predict the film will only bring in between $110 and $118 million.

This alleged insider spoke to scooper WDW Pro who shared his information in a recent video upload.

First, WDW Pro relayed that he obtained information that Marvel Studios is expecting the film do to even worse than the predictions from Box Office Pro and Variety, “Apparently, allegedly, even though I cannot verify it, that, in fact, internal numbers are beginning to look worse than what we are seeing on Variety and … of course Box Office Pro as well.”

“In fact, Marvel is seeing that their number is looking more like $108 million for the weekend. That’s right, domestic box office. And that would bring it below this low mark $110 [million]. Not only that, but because they may be worried that $108 [million] is actually where this thing is headed. Well, that’s getting awful close to Ant-Man: Quantumania territory and that’s somewhere none of them ever believed this movie would go,” he continued.

WDW Pro went on, “Not only that, but they are now hoping, praying, wishing on a star that there will be tremendous walk-up traffic, that there will be tons of people who choose to go see this movie at the last minute and that in fact the pre-sales are not indicative of where this thing is going.”

“As the source told me if this film fails to even reach the $108 million, which seems unlikely. Surely, surely it can hit the $110 plus. Even I, I’m just…if it doesn’t hit $120 [million] I’ll be shocked. But according to the source inside Marvel they are referring to this as an e-stop moment. An e-stop moment, which is a reference to the Disney attractions when they have a need to completely stop the attraction so that no one is hurt or harmed or there’s a significant malfunction. That’s called an e-stop, where the ride completely comes to an end.”

“And apparently that is what is being bandied about now because and here’s what the source says, ‘The tremendous fear inside Marvel at this moment with all of the higher ups is that whereas they could once count on huge numbers of Marvel fans coming to support the movie on the opening weekend, Quantumania showed that the bottom may have fallen out. And if Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 follows that same trend and fails to hit the $110 million mark, if it comes close to Quantumania then that bottom is gone permanently.”

“‘If Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can’t pull in audiences than nothing can. This is connected with the original characters of the MCU. There was an expectation that, although they had lost James Gunn, they had not lost the audience in terms of anticipation for this film,'” WDW Pro concluded the information from his source.

As for why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s box office projections look so bad, WDW Pro speculates it could be do to the fact that the film features Rocket Racoon and a number of animals being experimented on and possibly tortured by the High Evolutionary.

He opines, “Apparently, in this film there are depictions of graphic situations and little critters … not having a good time, and not having a good time in a real way. We’re talking about Rocket Racoon and his little pals.”

“If this is what’s happening and kids don’t want to go to see this because they don’t want to go watch Rocket and his little pals be harmed then you could see a huge drop-off. We’re talking 60 to 70 to 75 percent. And if you couple that with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 coming in at $110 [million] or below. … But if it comes in at those kind of numbers and then it has that drop off, holy smokes folks, this thing could be down in disaster territory,” he shared.

(L-R): Teefs (voiced by Asim Chaudry), Lylla (voiced by Linda Cardellini), Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), and Fllor (voiced by Mikela Hoover) in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

In a press kit about the film, Marvel Studios notes the film does indeed depict The High Evolutionary experimenting on Rocket Raccoon and his friends.

It states, “It isn’t long before the Guardians’ attempt to return to normal is upended by a brutal attack from a new enemy: the mad scientist known as The High Evolutionary, who has a direct connection to Rocket’s turbulent past. After years of experimenting on helpless creatures, The High Evolutionary is set no taking back what he feels is rightly his—Rocket. The Guardians rally to protect Rocket’s life at all costs. This new mission, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them, and…”

The press kit goes on to confirm that “it is Rocket’s story that does drive the narrative. And that is true to James Gunn’s original vision for the trilogy’s storyline.” Gunn then explains, “I knew that the core of the story, for me, was Rocket and his story, where he came from, and who he was. It was very important for me to tell that whole story.”

Gunn would later state, “The central character, in a way, is Rocket, and Rocket’s the one I feel close to.” He would also note, “It’s funny because people think of these films as lighthearted, fun movies, but everything that drives the story is that emotional center of Rocket and the other characters who are all outsiders who don’t feel as if they really belong. Eventually the cracks start to open up a little bit between some of the characters, and they start to love each other.”

The press kit goes on to reiterate, “Rocket is definitely the heart of the story in the third and final film of the Guardians franchise, and that was Gunn’s intention from the very beginning.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives in theaters on May 5, 2023.

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