Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3: Everything We Know About The Final Installment Of James Gunn’s Trilogy

Guardians of the Galaxy was a massive test. Not just for the MCU, but for its director, James Gunn. All Marvel Studios films previous to Guardians had featured a major member of the Avengers, or the Avengers name itself. While they weren’t Spider-Man or Batman, Captain America and Iron Man at least lived in the cultural consciousness. The Guardians of the Galaxy did not. James Gunn, meanwhile, had directed a small handful of gory movies, including the dark superhero comedy, Super.

Killer casting, a soundtrack filled with unequaled needledrops, and MCU-grade visual effects skyrocketed the Guardians and Gunn from unknown to household names almost literally overnight, making stars of both of them. These days, Gunn is taking the reins over at the DC Studios arm of Warner Bros. Discovery, and the Guardians have a brand-new (James Gunn-directed) holiday special. Gunn directed a film and a television series for DC, and the Guardians of the Galaxy characters have appeared in multiple Avengers films and the latest Thor movie, Thor: Love & Thunder and even have their own holiday special.

Now, though, it’s time for both Gunn and the current Guardians lineup to close out their time with Marvel together, at least for now. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is nearly here after a very long wait–thanks in part to some ill-advised employment decisions by Disney–and is hitting theaters in 2023 to pick up where that golden cliffhanger at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 left us nearly six years ago.