Actress Zoe Saldaña, who plays Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, recently confirmed she will be stepping away from the role following Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Saldaña made her intentions clear in an interview with Total Film magazine telling the outlet, “I think the time has come for me to step down, and for the next generation to come forward.”
However, while she will be stepping away from the character, she doesn’t want the character’s journey to end with her, “The one thing I would not want is for Gamora to go away. She’s been such an impactful character for fans, and especially female fans, and young female fans.”
“I would love for Marvel to figure out a way to find that next generation of actors that can incarnate these characters, and give them this immortality that fans generationally keep coming back to,” she added.
Saldaña concluded, “But me, per se? I mean, I signed up for one, and I got 10 years. Lucky me, man. I have no complaints. And I’m moving on with so much grace and gratitude in my heart.”
Saldaña’s exit from the role of Gamora and the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes as Marvel Studios is in significant decline. The most recent release, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, lost money for the studio.
The film only grossed $465.3 million globally on an estimated $200 million production budget. That means the film lost on the conservative end around $40 million.
Not only did it lose money, but it also was the worst performing Ant-Man movie to date without even factoring in inflation. Ant-Man and the Wasp grossed $623.1 million globally while the first Ant-Man film grossed $518.8 million.
On top of its abysmal box office grosses, the film received an abysmal 6.3 out of 10 from over 115,000 IMDb users. It is tied for the second worst rated Marvel Cinematic Universe film with Eternals. The only film it tops is Thor: Love and Thunder, which has a 6.2 IMDb user score.
Before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania tanked at the box office and with moviegoers, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also showed the downward trend of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film only grossed $854 million a significant decline from the first Black Panther film that grossed $1.3 billion globally.
Wakanda Forever also received a poor 6.7 IMDb user score. The first film received a 7.3 out of 10 IMDb user score.
It isn’t just a two movie trend either. Thor: Love and Thunder, as noted above, is the worst rated Marvel Cinematic Universe film on IMDb. The film also saw box office grosses decline from previous films in its franchise. Thor: Love and Thunder only grossed $760.9 million globally. Thor: Ragnarok grossed nearly $100 million more with $850 million and, again, that’s without factoring in inflation.
If you do factor in inflation, Thor: The Dark World trounced Thor: Love and Thunder. Without inflation it grossed $644.6 million globally. With inflation it grossed $835.1 million globally.
And that trend appears to continue as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to perform worse than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Box office tracking outlet Box Office Pro’s most recent predictions for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 see the film only bringing in $110 to $135 million in its opening weekend at domestic theaters. They also predict the film will only have a domestic gross between $264 and $351 million.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 grossed $389.8 million at domestic theaters in 2017. It would gross another $479.2 million internationally for a global gross of $869 million. If Box Office Pro’s predictions are accurate the third installment is tracking far behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In fact, if it doesn’t hit on the high end of the predictions, it’s tracking behind 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which grossed $333.7 million domestically. It went on to gross another $437 million internationally for a global gross of $770.8 million. And the real kicker is this is without factoring in inflation.
RELATED: James Gunn Says Adam Warlock Is “Definitely Not A Good Guy” In ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s official description states, “In Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But
it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life—a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.”
The film arrives in theaters on May 5, 2023.
What do you make of Saldaña hanging up the role of Gamora?