Up until now, writer-director-workaholic James Gunn has adhered to a pretty tight three-year cycle when handling the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Back in 2014, for instance, Gunn brought the MCU back to outer space for an adventure starring Rocket Raccoon and a giant, talking tree named Groot proving that, yes, sometimes big things have small beginnings. Not one to rest on his laurels, James Gunn soon began composing Vol. 2 of his hilarious space opera, and when that Marvel movie hit theaters last year, he already had one eye on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
It’s a threequel that has since been described as “freakin’ amazing” by Chris Pratt, while Gunn himself recently narrowed the launch window to May 2020. So by our calculations, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ought to be gearing up for a production start next year, right? That’s the current plan, according to Star-Lord Pratt, who hinted at the film’s production timeline while wishing co-star Pom Klementieff a happy birthday over on Instagram.
Happy Birthday @pom.klementieff whom many of you know as Mantis!!! She’s such a unique, talented and driven artist. Can’t wait to start shooting Guardians Vol. 3 with her next year! Hope you’re having a good day Pom!
So once Ant-Man and the Wasp has come and gone, and Marvel is on the verge of launching Captian Marvel, we can readily expect James Gunn and his team to bring together those spacefaring A-holes once more.
And according to Chris Pratt, it’ll herald the final chapter in Star-Lord’s journey, though whether it’ll bring some sense of closure to his, er, fractured relationship with Gamora is another question entirely.
“Um, I know the story,” he said. “It’s going to be freaking amazing. This is, very intentionally [and] essentially, the wrap-up of a trilogy, and so the first film, the second film, and the third film each are standalone films. But there’s an arc from the first to second to third that will wrap up through the film, and it’s imaginative, it’s big — it’s bigger, better, faster, stronger, funnier… It’s gonna be great, I’m so excited.”
Tethered to Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to zoom into theaters in May of 2020. An exact release date has yet to be revealed, however, which isn’t all that surprising when you consider that Marvel Studios plans to keep things hush hush until Avengers 4 arrives next year.
