Forgotten ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Villain Isn’t Finished With the MCU
Jun 6, 2025
Some MCU villains, like Loki and Thanos, have achieved popularity and recognition beyond their first appearances (and even the Marvel heroes they fought against), while others, like Malekith and Gorr the God Butcher, were completely lost underneath weak scripts and bad movies. Then there sits the third category, to which Benicio Del Toro’s The Collector fits in, where villains were set up in earlier movies but haven’t truly been given the spotlight yet. Del Toro first played The Collector in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014 and has had brief stints in the MCU since, but the character hasn’t been given the opportunity to shine that Marvel Comics fans know he deserves. Although the actor recently teased that we haven’t seen the last of The Collector. Benicio Del Toro recently appeared on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to promote Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, and the actor was asked about his MCU past. The Collector made a brief appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy and had some small cameos in subsequent MCU movies. But, Del Toro said that fans could see more of the underrated villain in the future:
“There’s more on the table. There’s definitely more on the table. It’s not up to me, but I think there is.”
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The Collector first appeared in The Avengers Volume 1 #28 in 1966, created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. While many Marvel villains have undergone big changes in the adaptation process to bring them to the MCU, The Collector remained relatively unscathed, aside from his costume. The character didn’t pose much of a threat in Guardians of the Galaxy, acting as a minor character in the team’s fight against Ronan the Accuser. But, in the comics, The Collector is immensely powerful and leads the Elders of the Universe team of supervillains. But, if The Collector is going to make an MCU comeback, it will likely be beside a recognizable MCU team.
Will ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 4’ Ever Happen?
Within the MCU, The Collector is so closely tied to the Guardians of the Galaxy that it would feel wrong for the character to appear in any movie without them. The team hasn’t officially been confirmed to return for a fourth adventure, despite Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 setting them up for one, with some new team members. Given the team’s popularity, Marvel Studios would be leaving money on the table by not bringing the team back in some form. Many are expecting the Guardians to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. The MCU’s next big event movie is currently in production, and some of the cast have already been revealed. However, it is widely believed that the names confirmed by Marvel Studios are just a fraction of the film’s full cast. The studio hasn’t officially confirmed this, but the rumor mill is spinning with whispers that Marvel will reveal the next lot of names for Doomsday in the coming weeks, most likely following the release of Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25. Source: Happy Sad Confused
Guardians of the Galaxy
Release Date
August 1, 2014
Runtime
121 minutes
Director
James Gunn
Writers
Nicole Perlman, James Gunn
Publisher: Source link
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