WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, now in theaters.
Avengers: Endgame had the enormous responsibility of not only tying up 11 years of storytelling, but also setting in motion what’s to come in the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forward. Endgame left fans with several questions as to the future of the MCU. When does Spider-Man: Far From Home take place? Will all the MCU films moving forward be set five years later? What’s the deal with that underwater earthquake Okoye mentioned?
There is also the Gamora situation. After Avengers: Infinity War, there was criticism about the film’s treatment of Gamora, particularly how she’s fridged to serve the male villain’s storyline. We assumed her death was permanent from what we’d previously heard from the the film's directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, about the deaths in Infinity War. However, there’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to be considered, meaning Gamora would have to come back somehow. Endgame finds a way to bring Gamora back, but it has created several problems.
This is the One? Seriously?
As we find out in Endgame, Gamora returns to the MCU, but as her 2014 self before she meets Peter Quill in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. When future Nebula arrives in 2014 to get the Power Stone before Peter, she shares the same network with her past self, allowing past Nebula to see her memory files. This tips off past Thanos that he does succeed with his master plan, but these Terrans are trying to erase his good work. Once again, Thanos goes after the stones, leading him, two Nebulas and past Gamora to the epic final battle on Earth.
The only scene between Peter and Gamora in Endgame features Peter getting kicked in the crotch twice because he caressed Gamora’s face. This Gamora doesn’t know Peter, but Nebula must’ve told her something about him since Gamora asks her, “This is the one? Seriously?” She isn’t that impressed with Peter, which, to be fair, is how she would’ve reacted in 2014.
We don’t see Gamora again after this scene. Tony Stark’s death after he snaps Thanos and his army away is brutal. We get so distracted by the raw emotions of this scene that we forget something -- wouldn’t the 2014 version of Gamora be considered part of Thanos’ army? Did she get snapped? We don’t see Gamora post Tony’s snap in the film, but we have to assume she survives for Guardians 3 to work.
The Problems
In essence, for Guardians 3, the Guardians (plus Thor?) will be dealing with a Gamora who has no memory of them -- meaning she will once again be serving someone else’s storyline instead of moving forward in her own character development. It’s literally a step backward in her character development because she’s from the past.
Knowing Peter, he will spend a great deal of time trying to find Gamora, and then, once he finds her, try to get her to fall in love with him again. As we know from similar stories, however, what you did to woo someone once doesn’t guarantee it will work again. And, it’s not fair to Gamora to make her the object of a quest when she has already been tossed aside -- off a cliff! -- in this cinematic universe.
The most frustrating part is we know Gamora is such a capable character. She’s got the assassin skills and the practical intelligence, which made her an integral part of the Guardians team. But, it took her an entire film’s worth of storytelling to get to that point. We’ve already seen the story of Gamora learning to trust and love Peter and the rest of the team. Watching that all happen again isn’t that appealing.
The Solution
There aren’t many ways to make what is essentially a memory loss storyline fresh and interesting. However, we can reframe Guardians 3 as an opportunity to give Gamora the treatment she deserves as a righteous assassin.
What if Gamora stays an assassin and one of the other Guardians picks up the emotional support slack? Rocket is the only one from the original team who wasn’t snapped, so he’s got five years worth of maturity to offer the Guardians. We know he’s got heart under that snark, and it would be entertaining to see him assume what was traditionally Gamora’s role. Peter has no choice but to lean on the other Guardians for support. Him going to Rocket or even Drax for this would be hilarious, thus staying on brand for the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
Gamora shouldn’t be put into another romantic storyline. In Endgame, when Nebula tells her that they eventually become friends and sisters, this is what prompts Gamora to turn on Thanos. Nebula is the key to Gamora, not Peter. If Guardians 3 is to feature Gamora, it should be Nebula looking for her sister, not Peter. Nebula and Gamora can form the sisters assassin team we didn’t know we needed.
The MCU is still lacking in female friendships, especially sisters, so this would help to narrow that gap as well. The Thor and Loki dynamic worked so well, why not give Nebula and Gamora that same opportunity? The potential for humor we expect from a Guardians film is still there. Endgame has shown us that Nebula can play off other characters and be a source of humor in her seriousness.
Gamora’s development shouldn’t be tied to a male hero’s journey, nor a male villain’s, again. Now there’s a chance to do it better. Not that she doesn’t deserve to have a love interest down the line, but the relationship between her and her sister is much more compelling to delve into.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos.