As of last week, James Gunn is officially back on to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but while most fans were pretty thrilled to hear of his return, it could still be a few more years before the director’s threequel makes its way to screens.
According to a new listing from Production Weekly, the third Guardians is scheduled to begin filming in February 2021. And while this may seem like a long time to sit on a movie that was originally aiming for a 2020 release, Gunn’s work on The Suicide Squad seemingly prevents Marvel Studios from setting a date much earlier than this.
When Gunn was reinstated at the helm of Vol. 3, it was agreed that his upcoming DC flick would be his first priority. And since the follow-up to 2016’s Suicide Squad isn’t scheduled to begin filming until later this year, Gunn will be pretty fresh off shooting the Warner Bros. picture before he returns to the MCU. From the look of things, Vol. 3 will be shot in the window between wrapping The Suicide Squad and the movie’s summer press tour, which will precede the film’s release on August 6th, 2021. After that, we can assume that he’ll get back once more to Guardians.
In short, Gunn is going to spend these next few years hopping between the two brands in a manner that will boggle the minds of the most tribalistic Marvel and DC fans. As for when exactly Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might be arriving in cinemas, the first half of 2022 is looking pretty likely right now. In the meantime, you can expect the Guardians to make a return to theaters with the release of Avengers: Endgame on April 26th.
