Once upon a time, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 would have been with us this very month, but it was ultimately pulled from the schedules for reasons that we’re all familiar with. Despite writer/director James Gunn now being back in Marvel’s good books, he’s too busy with DC’s The Suicide Squad to make the sequel. With TSS due out next year, though, it was widely assumed that Vol. 3 could drop in 2022.
However, the filmmaker has now pretty much outright confirmed this isn’t going to happen. First, AMC Theaters tweeted that Guardians 3 was coming next year. Gunn then responded to tell them it wasn’t. This caused fans to fly into his mentions, asking him whether this meant it was set for 2022 instead. Gunn then gave a brief comment to clarify the matter. “I didn’t say 2022,” he stated.
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/1265414939360944128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This shouldn’t be surprising given how packed Marvel’s 2022 slate is. Due to the pandemic, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder have been pushed back from 2021, plus Black Panther II and Captain Marvel 2 are also locked in for May and July that year. There is one October date still going, but this would be an unusual place to drop the movie. It seems logical, then, to assume it’s going to fill the May 5th, 2023 slot.
Let’s assume that’s where it’s headed. If so, that will be a full three years since it was originally supposed to arrive in May 2020. What’s more, it’ll be six years since the last Guardians solo film in May 2017. There should’ve been a nice, even gap of three years between each entry in the trilogy, but we’ve now got twice as long to wait between Vol. 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Are you patient enough to wait another three years to find out what happens next to Star-Lord and company, though? Have your say in the comments below.