Zoe Saldana hopes someone else plays Gamora after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The final Guardians of the Galaxy movie is almost upon us, and it promises to be the biggest, most successful Marvel film in a while. It will end the Guardians trilogy that began back in 2017 with the original film, and multiple cast members have no plans to return to the MCU after this.

That includes Zoe Saldana, who has played Gamora in four films now; Guardians 3 will mark her fifth and final appearance in the MCU, barring anything surprising. “I signed up for one, and I got 10 years. Lucky me, man. I have no complaints,” she told Total Film. “And I’m moving on with so much grace and gratitude in my heart.”

Ten years is a long time to play one role, and there are a few things she won’t miss about applying all that green makeup. “I miss Gamora, but I don’t miss 3:30 a.m. calls and five-hour makeup sessions and trips to the dermatologist afterwards,” Saldana quipped to Variety.

Could another actor play Gamora after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

Still, just because Saldana feels like she’s taken Gamora as far as she can go doesn’t mean she wants the character to go away; she just thinks it’s time for someone else to play her. “I think the time has come for me to step down, and for the next generation to come forward,” she said.

"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."

Several big name Marvel stars have exited the MCU. Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans both left as Iron Man and Captain America respectively, Scarlett Johansson recently said that she’s “done” with Marvel films, so we shouldn’t expect to see her back as Black Widow. All of those characters were written out of the MCU pretty neatly.

We don’t yet know how Gamora’s story ends, but there have been few instances of an actor leaving a character and getting played by a new actor later. The only one I can really think of is Edward Norton playing the Hulk, only to be replaced by Mark Ruffalo, but that was early in the MCU’s run when the rules weren’t fully set up yet. Also, actor William Hurt died before he could film new scenes as his character Thaddeus Ross. He’ll be replaced by Harrison Ford in future movies.

Still, anything can happen. We’ll know more when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 debuts in theaters on May 5.

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