James Gunn isn’t one to rest on his laurels. Shortly before the premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy three years ago, the writer-director made a conscious effort to immerse himself in the possibility of Vol. 2, drawing up story arcs as a means of drowning out the noise generated by critics and box office forecasts.
Fast forward to 2017 and the stakes are considerably higher – Star-Lord and Co. have ostensibly become household names in those intervening years – but James Gunn’s modus operandi remains the same: delving straight back into the lush Marvel universe as a means of preparing for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Per USA Today, it’s understood James Gunn is already formulating ideas for the third (and final?) Guardians movie, after reportedly holding “pretty intense” talks with Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, who anchor Marvel’s wildly dysfunctional family as Peter Quill and Gamora, respectively. When you consider that the burgeoning Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy pieces together as a single, cohesive story, it shouldn’t be all that surprising to learn that Gunn is beginning to engineer the conclusive chapter. It’ll take place after both Infinity War and the as-yet-untitled Avengers 4 on the MCU timeline, contrary to previous reports, and we know that Adam Warlock is all set to appear in the third film, after being cut from the imminent sequel. There’s even mention of a larger role for Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, too.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is slotted in for May 5th, when James Gunn’s motley crew will be unleashed upon theaters all across North America. Analysts predict an overly successful domestic bow in the region of $140m-$160 million – whether those forecasts are accurate, though, is another question entirely. Stay tuned for more.