James Gunn isn’t messing around when it comes to reassembling his Guardians of the Galaxy cast and crew, with the team shooting no less than three separate productions as part of a mammoth shoot that’s expected to last into the middle of next year.
After the writer and director debunked claims that production on Vol. 3 was underway, he revealed that he was actually capturing footage for theme park attraction Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. However, he did confirm yesterday that cameras are now rolling on the Marvel Cinematic Universe threequel, but there’s still another side project to come.
It was revealed a while back that the schedule for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was built into Vol. 3‘s filming block, and Marvel Studios have now confirmed which core cast members will appear. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, and Sean Gunn are named, so there doesn’t seem to be any room for new additions Will Poulter or Chukwudi Iwuji.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t be expecting more than a few surprise guests, but it could indicate that the Holiday Special is a standalone project that exists independently from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, even if the one-off festive adventure is official MCU canon.
