It has been a long road to “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” Way back in 2016, Marvel head Kevin Feige told Gizmodo that the third film was definitely planned, and in 2017, it was announced that director James Gunn would return to the helm the last film in the trilogy.
But the story gets a little messy from there. Gunn was fired from the project on July 20 2018, and production was put on hold shortly after. In 2019, Disney and Marvel re-hired Gunn, but production was delayed until he finished “The Suicide Squad” and the HBO Max spin-off “Peacemaker.” Filming for “GOTG 3” finally began in 2021, and wrapped in May 2022. Fans also saw the “Guardians of the Galaxy” briefly in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” which gives some helpful hints about where their new movie is going.
On July 2, star Chris Pratt opened up to Digital Spy about the movie, which he called a “masterpiece.” He said of the film, “It’s fantastic. James Gunn just watched a rough assembly the other day. I called him yesterday. We Facetimed, and he’s very, very proud of the work that everyone’s done. He said it’s the best work all of us have ever done. He feels very, very confident. The script was amazing.”
The star explained to Digital Spy, “And I can say with utter confidence that he’s made a true masterpiece, and I just cannot wait for people to see it. It’s James Gunn. He did all three movies, which is really rare and really special in the world of big box-office trilogies.”
Ahead, here’s everything we know about the movie, including the cast, plot, and release date.
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"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" Cast
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” will see most of the main cast returning, including Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, Dave Bautista as Drax, Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, and Sean Gunn as Kraglin. Zoe Saldaña will also return as Gamora, but it will be a 2014 version of Gamora who travelled in time with Thanos, and thus never joined the Guardians or made up with her sister.
Elizabeth Debicki will also reprise her role as Ayesha from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” and Sylvester Stallone will return as Stakar Ogord. Chukwudi Iwuji, Nico Santos, Daniela Melchior, and Maria Bakalova will also appear.
The biggest addition to the cast is Will Poulter as Adam Warlock.
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"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" Plot
We don’t know the major details of the plot just yet, though we have some major hints. When viewers encounter the Guardians in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the core group – minus Gamora – are united together and out there saving the galaxy, sometimes with Thor’s help. It seems likely that a reunion with Gamora will be a major part of the new film.
Adam Warlock, meanwhile, is set up to be the movie’s main antagonist, though it’s possible he’ll turn to the Guardians’ side by the end of the film.
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"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" Release Date
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” will be released on May 5, 2023.
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"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" Director
Back in 2018, Gunn was fired from “GOTG 3” when some of his inappropriate tweets from a decade ago were resurfaced by conservative online personalities. Soon after his firing, nine principal names from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise – Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Michael Rooker, and Sean Gunn – signed a joint statement asking Disney to rehire him.
For a while, it seemed like Marvel would go ahead with another director, but just under a year after the news first broke, the studio revealed that Gunn was reinstated as director. In response to the news, Gunn tweeted a statement, writing, “I deeply appreciate Disney’s decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all.”
