It’s been a busy couple of years for writer-director James Gunn. After turning the crew of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies into bonafide stars of the Marvel universe, Gunn was fired from the series, only to bring his superhero know-how to Warner Bros for “The Suicide Squad” and its popular HBO Max spinoff series, “Peacemaker.” But after a reconciliation with Marvel, Gunn is finally bringing his space trilogy to a close with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” And yes, Gunn has now moved over to DC Studios officially, the head of it, along with producer Peter Safran. Still, he’s really taken his time saying goodbye to the Guardians.
Not only did we get the animated “I Am Groot” series on Disney+ this year, but just very recently, we finally received the gift of “The Guardians of The Galaxy Holiday Special.” That special presentation is a good lead-in for the events of ‘Vol 3,’ as the ‘Holiday Special’ showed Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) battling some existential loneliness and heartache, missing Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), who went missing at the end of “Avengers: Endgame.”
Of course, she’s not the Gamora he knows and is from the past before they got together romantically. But you can be sure that ‘Vol. 3’ will not only conclude or wrap up that story but finalize the story of the Guardians as found family of misfits who, despite all their warring and differences, deeply love each other (and James Gunn has already teased something heartbreaking).
‘Guardians 3’ has a big cast, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Sean Gunn, and more. Sylvester Stallone as his Ravager character, Will Poulter enters the MCU as Adam Warlock—a celestial magic figure that fans have wanted in the MCU for ages— Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and Maria Bakalova, voicing Cosmo the Spacedog who was already introduced in the ‘Holiday Special.’ Daniela Melchior and Nico Santos are also in the film in undisclosed roles.
Whatever happens in this oversized final ride, expect it to be significant for James Gunn’s last Marvel film. He’s already teased that this will be the final time this iteration of the ‘Guardians’ is a team together, so we might want to brace ourselves for some deaths and a big tear-jerker.
Regardless, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.,” hits theaters May 5, 2023. Watch the new trailer below.