Fans have been waiting very patiently for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but we now know specifically when the highly anticipated sequel will hit theaters. The Guardians of the Galaxy 3 release date was revealed in a new video released by Marvel Studios touting the return of movie theaters, which also boasted some exciting new footage from other upcoming Marvel movies. And while we knew previously that Guardians 3 was going to be released sometime in 2023, we know now the exact date it will hit theaters: May 5, 2023.
James Gunn is writing and directing Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which is due to start production later in 2021. The movie was originally supposed to start filming in 2019, but Gunn was briefly removed from the film after some past offensive tweets of his resurfaced. Disney almost immediately changed its mind, but in the short period of time in which Gunn was off Guardians 3, he signed on to write and direct The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros. and DC Films, so he was then committed to making that movie first.
But Gunn has now completed The Suicide Squad and is currently filming an HBO Max spinoff show focusing on John Cena’s character from that film called Peacemaker. Once he completes that show, he’ll move full-time into prepping Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which he has previously said would complete a trilogy of sorts that he was planning for the beloved Guardians characters.
Indeed, while things may have changed, Gunn’s past comments made it sound like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be a sendoff of sorts to this specific lineup of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Casting beyond the core group of characters has not yet been announced and story details are under wraps, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a pretty ambitious film from a narrative perspective, so I’m excited to see what Gunn puts together for Vol. 3.
The writer/director has said that the script for Guardians 3 is the same one he was planning to shoot back in 2019 so not much has been changed, but while in production on Guardians 3 Gunn will also direct the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for Disney+ as well as scenes needed for the upcoming Walt Disney World attraction Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot, so there’s certainly a lot on his to-do list.