Not that anyone ever had any doubts, but James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was a smashing success. Reviews weren’t quite as strong as the ones its predecessor found itself with, but the box office business that the sequel did, and continues to do, is mighty impressive.
Currently, it sits at a hefty $750 million worldwide, which means you can bet that Marvel is eager to assemble Star-Lord and co. for another adventure. And while that may very well be the case, it appears as if the studio is placing their focus elsewhere. For the time being, at least.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been confirmed, that much we know, and James Gunn will be returning to write and direct, but he’s certainly not in any hurry to do so. Speaking to Fan Fest recently, James’ brother, Sean (who stars in the franchise and does mocap work, too) said that development on the threequel is being put on hold while everyone waits to see how Avengers: Infinity War turns out.
“I know that James is being a little bit more patient this time around. Partially because some of what happens with the Guardians is dependent on what happens with them in Infinity War. And even though my brother’s a producer on Infinity War, those movies aren’t finished yet so until we kind of see where everything lands there that’s going to have some bearing on what happens with the Guardians. So it’s a little bit of a wait and see but I’m sure there are a lot of ideas already in the works.”
That makes a lot of sense, given that the Guardians will be showing up in Joe and Anthony Russo’s epic superhero extravaganza. Not to mention that Vol. 3 takes place after both Infinity War and its sequel. And even though filming is already underway on the Avengers flick, it’s far from complete and you can bet that things will change between now and when it smashes its way into theatres. Plus, the rumored release date for Vol. 3 is 2020, so Gunn and his team have plenty of time to plan and develop everything.
The other thing to note, too, is that the MCU is set to undergo some pretty significant changes, and post-Phase 3, it might look completely different, as Kevin Feige keeps hinting. So at this point, it’s hard to say where Star-Lord and the gang will end up after Infinity War and what direction a third Guardians film could take. I mean, who even knows if all of the “A-holes” will make it out of the next Avengers movie alive.
Sure, Gunn and all the key folks over at Marvel certainly have some sort of roadmap of where everything’s heading, but it still makes sense to not rush into development and instead, see how things shake out first in regards to the next few outings. There’s certainly a lot coming down the pipeline, what with Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok both set to drop before the year’s out, and 2018 is looking pretty jam-packed, too.
As such, we don’t expect to learn anything more about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. until much closer to the end of Phase 3, but if one thing’s for certain, it’s that the future is looking awfully bright for Marvel fans.