Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed that writer/director James Gunn has delivered a first draft for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, set to begin production in early 2019.Speaking with Collider while promoting Ant-Man and the Wasp, Feige confirmed that Gunn has submitted a draft and that pre-production on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will begin in the near future.RELATED: Chris Pratt Teases Guardians 3 Could Be a Prequel, But James Gunn Says No“[Writer/director] James [Gunn] has delivered a draft and we begin official pre-production on that very, very soon," Feige said. "It’ll be shooting early next year. Captain Marvel finishes in about two weeks, Spider-Man starts in about two weeks and then Guardians 3 will start early next year.” Gunn also gave a confirmation of sorts that a screenplay for the film is finished, posting a picture to his Twitter account of the title page with the caption, "Every bit of my heart."

The status of the third Guardians film has been open to much debate amongst fans following the events of Avengers: Infinity War, in which all of the Guardians, except for Rocket, fall victim to Thanos' quest to wipe out half of the universe's population.

RELATED: Could Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Actually Be An Infinity War Prequel?

Theories about the film suggest that it could take place before Infinity War given the four year gap between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Infinity War, a theory even star Chris Pratt has teased, but Gunn has denied on Twitter. And while Zoe Saldana has suggested that Gamora's death in Infinity War is permanent, Gunn has previously revealed that Gamora will have a "significant role" in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to begin filming in January of 2019 with a targeted release date sometime in 2020.