At long last, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has officially started filming. It’s been over four years and counting since Star-Lord and the gang helmed their own solo movie, but the much-anticipated threequel is now going before cameras. As fans know, there have been various factors at play that have kept the film from happening until now, and Gamora herself⏤Zoe Saldana⏤has opened up a little about that “challenging journey.”
This Monday saw the Guardians cast and crew take to social media to confirm the good news, with many of them sharing the same polaroid of the film’s major players reunited. Saldana was one of those, and in her caption of the image on Instagram, she spoke about how “blissful” it is to be back with “her Guardians family” after so many “obstacles.”
“It’s been a strange & long & at times challenging journey to get here, but the obstacles along the way have only made this moment more blissful,” the Avengers: Endgame actress wrote. “Back on set with my Guardians family for the first day of shooting.”
“Challenging” is definitely one word to describe Guardians 3‘s protracted pre-production journey. Infamously, director James Gunn was removed from the movie back in the summer of 2018 due to a social media scandal, though Disney ultimately elected to rehire him several months later. In the interim, however, he signed a new deal with DC to direct The Suicide Squad, followed by spinoff series Peacemaker, which completed earlier this year. Add in the in-demand cast’s busy schedules and it’s a miracle the movie is finally happening.
As the photo Saldana shared makes clear, the OG Guardians⏤including Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Sean Gunn⏤are joined by a couple of new faces for round three, namely Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and Chukwudi Iwuji in an undisclosed (but apparently highly coveted) role.
Unfortunately, the challenging journey isn’t quite over for us, as we’ve still got about a year and a half to wait until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters in May 2023.