Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to release and conclude the eponymous team’s journey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. James Gunn has always imagined the threequel to be his last, and decided early on it would end the team’s storyline.
However, his plans weren’t without obstacles, and one of the most notable was Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Gunn revealed that the Thor/Guardians team-up at the end of Avengers: Endgame left him in a dilemma, for it clashed with his original plans for the threequel. James Gunn revealed that he wasn’t aware of the union hinted at in Endgame, shocking him when he first saw the film.
“They chose to have that ending in editing. And I didn’t think it was gonna be in there. I didn’t have much say in what was in Endgame, and then it came out, and then I was like, ‘What the f*** am I gonna do?'”
Gunn was involved as an executive producer on Avengers: Endgame, but didn’t have a creative say in its story or making. And since the formation of the Asgardians of the Galaxy came to fruition in the editing stage, Gunn couldn’t have known. He’d already returned for the Guardians threequel just before Endgame’s release, leaving him with a massive obstacle ahead.
Gun never intended Thor to be part of it, and always wanted to emphasize the original team and their emotional arc. And since it is his last film for Marvel, he wanted it to stand far from MCU continuity. Having Thor in the movie would have meant that Gun would have to continue two separate story arcs with GOTG Vol. 3, for he can’t just keep a character like Thor in the background.
However, Taika Waiti came to Gunn’s rescue when his Thor: Love and Thunder was greenlit for Phase Four.
“That’s when Kevin [Feige] told me Taika’s gonna do ‘Thor,’ and we’ll have the Guardians in it.”
With Thor: Love and Thunder coming earlier than GOT Vol. 3, the duty to cater to the team-up in Endgame fell upon Waititi, and Gunn got saved from keeping up with the continuity. The director is thankful to Waititi for clearing up the obstacle and allowing him to write Vol. 3 the way he intended to, without Thor.
“I said, ‘Thank God!’… To be completely honest, Thor was never going to be in this movie. Taika took a bullet for me. Because I was not going to have him in. I was just gonna start up, and there’s no Thor.”
Waititi handled the issue well himself. At the beginning of Thor: Love and Thunder, we see the Odinson shaping up in a voiceover montage, eventually leading to fighting off for a planet with the Guardians. At the end of the fight, he receives a distress signal from Lady Sif and departs to help her.
As depicted in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the scene separates him from the team, who then settle on Knowhere. Fans would have loved to see a joint adventure featuring Asgardians of the Galaxy, but it was probably better to give them separate arcs, given the two have a distinguishable significance in the MCU.
There’s no telling where and how Thor would turn up with an impending threat from Hercules upon him, but, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is all set to give the team their sendoff on May 5, 2023.