Now that James Gunn has finally wrapped up production on The Suicide Squad, the popular filmmaker will be headed back to Marvel so that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 can get rolling. As everyone knows by now, it’s been a long wait for the next installment in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. While James Gunn was originally going to get working on the sequel much earlier, he was temporarily fired from the project due to a series of controversial tweets that had resurfaced years later. As a result he moved to Warner Bros. to helm The Suicide Squad. But after making up with Disney, plans fell back into place and Gunn now intends on directing Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after all. Although it seems if we ever get Guardians of the Galaxy 4, it could have a completely new cast of characters.
James Gunn shared the revelation while speaking on Instagram about the future of the Guardians franchise with Marvel. James Gunn confirmed that not only will it “probably” be the last film of the series he’ll direct, but that it will “probably be the last with the current team”. He did, however, leave the answer a little open ended by saying “you never know.”
Unfortunately we don’t know what exactly he means by that, as it’s unclear what new characters could take the mantle of being the Guardians of the Galaxy. But there are no doubt plenty to choose from, and after three films with this current roster, it does make sense to freshen things up a bit. It will be sad to see James Gunn leave the franchise if that is what ends up happening, however, considering he’ll be the director of all three of the initial Guardians films.
Of course, this also just means even more new blood for the Guardians franchise – and other new projects for James Gunn to get involved in. Things clearly aren’t over either way, it seems, and we should hopefully learn more about Guardians of the Galaxy 3 soon.
As of this writing, there is still no specific release date given for the next Guardians of the Galaxy film, although it’s suspected to be at least 2023.