We all know that Chris Pratt will not be recast as Peter Quill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something that Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has made clear in response to a fan tweet that suggested the actor be “replaced” in the role. However, that being said, it also seems as though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 may be the last entry in the series. So, what’s next for Pratt as Quill in the MCU? As usual, the Watcher – as well as anyone else who has been following the character’s Marvel Comics adventures in recent years – knows there are some possible answers to the question: primarily Kitty Pryde.

While Gunn has stated in no uncertain terms that the role of Quill will not be recast, it’s still possible that we could see another character take on the mantle of Star-Lord. How is this not a direct contradiction with Gunn’s statement? Consider this: while the role of Thor Odinson has not been recast in the MCU, Chris Hemsworth is not playing the eponymous God of Hammers, in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. Instead, Natalie Portman, who has played Jane Foster since her big screen debut in 2011’s Thor, will play the part of the Goddess of Hammers.

Just as Hemsworth has not been recast, yet Portman will play Thor, it’s possible that a different character played by another actor could step into the part of “Star-Lord.” In the panels of Marvel Comics, mutant Kitty Pryde joined the Guardians of the Galaxy in 2015, and she later took on the mantel of Star-Lord in the wake of 2015 Secret Wars crossover event.

Fans on Twitter have already called for the female Star-Lord to make her way to the MCU. With one Marvel fan suggesting that actress Alison Brie take on the part.

An All-New, All-Different Star-Lord?

     Marvel Comics

In Guardians of the Galaxy (2015) #1 by Brian Michael Bendis, Valerio Schiti, Richard Isanove, and Cory Petit, with a main cover by Art Adams and Dave Stewart, Pryde made her debut as the new Star-Lord while Quill was preoccupied with his own adventures as the Emperor of Spartax.

But it isn’t just “space emperor” that’s available to adapt as a possible storyline for Pratt’s Quill, even if he does end up surrendering the title of “Star-Lord.” In Star-Lord: Grounded (2017) by Chip Zdarsky, Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson, and Cory Petit, in a story called “Earth-Lord: There’s No Place Like Home,” Quill is stuck on Earth rather than having adventures among the stars. He befriends an elderly man and is eventually forced to take a job as a bartender at the Bar with No Name, a watering hole that specializes in super villain clientele (which you may remember from the fourth episode of Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. on Hulu, “If Saturday Be… For the Boys!”).

This could give Pratt a chance to perform different aspects of the role of Quill than he has so far. Plus, an Earth-bound storyline would give the character a chance to appear alongside less cosmic Marvel characters like Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellain), both of whom made appearances in Star-Lord: Grounded.