Marvel Studios has set an official release date for writer/director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
As part of a video announcement celebrating its upcoming movies, the studio revealed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will open in theaters May 5, 2023. The video also unveiled the official new logo for the film, seen above.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will bring the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's space-faring misfits Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot and Nebula to a close. The sequel will reportedly begin production in the United Kingdom in the latter half of 2021, marking a return to the location used to shoot the first movie in the series after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 filmed primarily in Atlanta, GA.
The main cast of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently in Australia shooting their role for another MCU film, Taika Waititi's Thor: Love and Thunder. This is expected to serve as a bridge between the Guardians' next solo story and their most recent appearance in Avengers: Endgame, which concluded with the Guardians (sans Gamora) departing Earth with Thor for places unknown in the universe. Gunn has confirmed he is consulting on Love and Thunder's portrayal of the characters, adding "They're in great hands with [Waititi]."
Prior to the Guardians' return to the big screen, the characters will star in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. The project was announced during Disney's Investor Day in Dec. 2020 and will shoot at the same time as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, before streaming on Disney+ in 2022. Its title is something of a riff on the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, a TV film that released between Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, earning universally negative reviews for its bizarre sketches and musical numbers.
While the plot for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is under wraps, Gunn previously revealed "Our designers [and] visual development geniuses are busy creating new, fantastic designs of other worlds [and] alien beings [for GotG Vol. 3]. I'm not sure the galaxy is big enough for all this magic." Further raising expectations, he added "This. One. Is. Huge. I'm excited."
Written and directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to begin filming in 2021. It opens in theaters May 5, 2023.
Source: YouTube