By the time Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 comes to theaters on May 5, 2023, exactly seven years to the day will have passed since the release of the last installment, which is comfortably the longest gap ever between standalone Marvel Cinematic Universe sequels.
A lot has and will transpire across those 2555 days, including the firing of James Gunn by Disney over some unsavory tweets he’d made a decade previously, which led to him jumping ship and making The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker for DC Films and Warner Bros., but he’s back in the arms of Marvel Studios at long last.
Yesterday was the first day of principal photography on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and as you can see from the various social media reactions below, several of the key cast members couldn’t be happier at getting back into the thick of the cosmic action.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will mark the end of the line for writer/director Gunn and Drax’s Dave Bautista, so it’s going to be a bittersweet moment when the movie arrives. That’s not to say the franchise won’t be continued in the future, but it wouldn’t be the same without two of its most important assets.