James Gunn says he’s ‘cherishing’ last time on set ever with OG ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’

It’s official from director James Gunn that the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be the last film featuring “this team of Guardians,” which includes Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, AKA Star Lord, Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora, Dave Bautista’s Drax.

Gunn, who is currently overseeing the production for the Marvel film, took to Twitter Friday to express how he’s “cherishing every moment on set with this cast & crew!”

There’s a lot that’s still rather open-ended about this development; for instance, his quote from Deadline’s report he shared says it will be the last time with “this team of Guardians,” perhaps indicating there will be a new team to take up the mantle after the conclusion of Gunn’s trilogy.

And if you were wondering if Gunn parting ways from this particular set of heroes has anything to do with him being temporarily fired from Marvel over some old, offensive tweets — before being reinstated to helm the franchise’s third movie — that does not appear to be the case. The Slither director also confirmed on Twitter that the story of this group of heroes — which also includes Karen Gillan’s Nebula, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket, Vin Diesel’s Groot, and Pom Klementieff’s Mantis — was actually planned from the very beginning of the trilogy.

While it remains up in the air whether the various characters in the team will remain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some capacity, albeit disparately living out their own, independent adventures, it seems likely that at least one of the heroes won’t make it to the end of the third movie. That’s because in the previous films, both the original Groot and Michael Rooker’s Yondu sacrificed themselves in Guardians 1 and 2, respectively.

It also remains to be seen if Gunn will continue directing films for Marvel after the trilogy concludes. Over the summer, he stated to the New York Times that even though future plans aren’t completely set in stone, he’s “probably done” with the Disney-owned franchise. But even if he doesn’t continue with Marvel, he seems to have a bright future ahead of him in the realm of comic book adaptations with his helming of DC franchises, including last year’s The Suicide Squad and the HBO Max hit spinoff, Peacemaker.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits movie theaters May 5, 2023.