Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an upcoming superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. It is a sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Avengers: Endgame.

The film will be directed by James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, and Karen Gillan as Nebula.

Cast

 * Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord
 * Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer
 * Pom Klementieff as Mantis

Production
In November 2014, James Gunn stated that, in addition to having the "basic story" for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 while working on the first film, he also had ideas for a potential third film. Despite this, he was unsure in June 2015 if he would be involved with a third Guardians film, saying it would depend on how he felt after making Vol. 2. In April 2016, Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige said that a third Guardians film was "certainly" planned for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in "2020 and beyond".

The following month, Gunn announced that he write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, saying the film would be set after Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame and would "conclude the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and help catapult both old and new Marvel characters into the next ten years and beyond." He also felt that the three Guardians films would "work together as a whole," telling one story, saying, "I'm tying a lot of stuff together in the third film [from the previous two]. We get a lot of answers on a lot of different things".

After originally including Adam Warlock in his script treatment for Vol. 2, Gunn and Feige noted the importance of the character on the cosmic side of the MCU and hinted that he would make an appearance in Vol. 3. In May 2017, Gunn confirmed that Pom Klementieff would reprise her role as Mantis. He also intended to have Elizabeth Debicki reprise her role as Ayesha. By mid-June, Gunn had completed the first draft of his script treatment for the third film, and was considering changing a piece of character info he placed in the background of the mugshot sequence in the first film when the Guardians are captured by the Nova Corps. In September, Gunn reiterated that Vol. 3 would be released "in a little under three years", indicating a 2020 release. In April, Chris Pratt was set to reprise his role as Peter Quill / Star-Lord, and the following month, Dave Bautista confirmed that he would reprise his role as Drax the Destroyer. Marvel received the completed first draft of the screenplay from Gunn by the end of June, ahead of the beginning of pre-production.

On July 20, 2018, Disney and Marvel severed ties with Gunn after conservative commentators circulated controversial tweets surrounding topics such as rape and pedophilia. Gunn stated in a series of tweets that when he started his career he was "making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo" but felt as he has "developed as a person, so has my work and my humor", adding "I understand and accept the business decisions taken today. Even these many years later, I take full responsibility for the way I conducted myself then."

In response, many of the Guardians cast members tweeted support for Gunn. On July 30, the cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, including Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Sean Gunn, Klementieff, Rooker, and Karen Gillan, issued a statement in support of James Gunn, saying, "We fully support James Gunn. We were all shocked by his abrupt firing last week and have intentionally waited these ten days to respond in order to think, pray, listen, and discuss. In that time, we've been encouraged by the outpouring of support from fans and members of the media who wish to see James reinstated as director of Volume 3 as well as discouraged by those so easily duped into believing the many outlandish conspiracy theories surrounding him." Disney and Marvel were confirmed to be using Gunn's script for the film.

Pre-production was planned to commence by the end of 2018, with principal photography set for February 2019. In mid-October, James Gunn had completed his exit settlement with Disney, and was immediately was hired to write and direct the DC film The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros.

In March 2019, Disney and Marvel Studios reversed course and rehired Gunn as director of the film. Marvel plans to begin production on the film after Gunn completed his work for The Suicide Squad.