'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' will be 'the last time people will see this team,' says James Gunn

Enjoy Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy while you can – they may not be around for much longer.

“This is the end for us, the last time people will see this team of Guardians,” James Gunn told Deadline during a wide-ranging interview that touched upon the director’s impending Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is set to drop in the summer of 2023.

The MCU group’s most recent adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, was released back in 2017. Needless to say, fans have been clamoring for any and all information surrounding the next, and last, installment starring the beloved team of intergalactic ragtags.

“It’s big; it’s so, so big and dark, and different from what people might be expecting it to be,” Gunn told Deadline. “I just want to be true to the characters, the story, and give people the wrap-up that they deserve for the story. That’s always a little bit scary; I’m doing my best.”

While Vol.2 movie was the last true Guardians movie, the team did make appearances in both Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), and are also set to appear in Taika Waititi’s hotly anticipated Thor: Love and Thunder, which is scheduled to rumble into theaters on July 8, 2022. And though the third and most recent Thor movie, Ragnarok (2017), is widely considered to be the best in the series, Gunn knows that trilogies don’t always end on a high note.

“I’m aware that the third film in most trilogies sucks; not always,” he said.

We still have over a year until Vol. 3 is released, but in the meantime, Gunn’s DC work is chugging along; The Suicide Squad spin-off series, Peacemaker, is currently streaming on HBO Max to rave reviews, both critically and commercially. For now, all we can do is speculate about the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie – but if we had to guess, based on Gunn’s track record as a filmmaker, we would think that it probably won’t “suck.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.

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