James Gunn Announces He's Returning For 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3'

If you liked the trailer for “Thor: Ragnarok,” odds are you have James Gunn to thank. The director’s idiosyncratic vision for the Marvel universe helped nudge the studio into new and more interesting directions, with oddball humor and over-the-top imagery sliding in nicely alongside the franchise’s action sequences and slick production. And fans who worried that Gunn had not officially committed to a third ‘Guardians of the Galaxy‘ movie can rest easy: the director announced via Facebook this afternoon, in his typically humorous and insightful manner, that he had closed the deal to join our lovable space a-holes for one more journey.

Here’s what Gunn had to say about returning for the next ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ film:

Well, this week we start the U.S. press junket, before traveling to Europe at the end of the week. Of course I know some of the questions that come up a lot – “Wasn’t there a lot more pressure dealing with the sequel of a beloved film?” (No, there was less, because this time I knew there was an audience waiting to see it!) and, “What was it like working with Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone?” (Daunting and at times overwhelming – I ran around in my backyard as a kid pretending to be Snake Plissken and John Rambo, so these guys are true icons to me.)

But the question that comes up perhaps the most is, “What’s the deal with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and are you going to direct?”

Before I was able to honestly answer this, I needed to know it was, in my heart, what I truly felt called to do. There is a history in Hollywood of haphazard endings to trilogies, and I didn’t want to become a part of that dishonorable tradition of pretending the third one doesn’t exist. I couldn’t do it for the money, and I couldn’t do it because it was what other people wanted me to do. I needed to do it because it was what I needed to do. I have never made choices in my career based on anything other than passion and love for the stories and characters, and I didn’t want to start now.

So, after many months of ruminations and discussions, I know the answer. I could save this answer for the first, random interviewer to ask me during the press junket but instead I thought I’d share it with the most important people in the Guardiansverse – you, the fans, who have been so incredibly supportive and enthusiastic over the past five years, it has moved me to tears on a regular basis.

So, yes, I’m returning to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Don’t get ahead of yourself quite yet: “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” will hit theaters on May 5, 2017.