While Guardians of the Galaxy stood as one of the great pillars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a number of years, it has more recently been planted in shaky ground. In the summer of 2018 a minor scandal resulted in writer/director James Gunn being fired and then rehired for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and the time spent dealing with the situation wound up putting the project off of its schedule. As a result, for the last couple of years we've known that the sequel is coming, but the answer to "when?" has eluded us. That has changed today thanks to the big slate of announcements during Disney's big Investor's Day presentation, as it was not only confirmed that we will get to see the Marvel movie hit theaters on May 5th, 2023, but also that Gunn is working on a couple of related side projects that should seriously excite fans.
Disney didn't initially announce a "specific" weekend for the movie, but it showed great confidence in the movie by initially announcing 2023, which made it one of the furthest out announced projects. Eventually, Disney settled on May 5th. But if that feels like too long to wait until the next opportunity to see Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Groot, Mantis, and Nebula in action, there is some good news: we'll really only have to wait until late 2022. This is because there is a plan for James Gunn to film a Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special on the set of the third feature. You can check out the official announcement as well as the title art below!
If that were the end of the story fans would probably be satisfied, but like the proverbial TV pitchman, I actually have more! Not only are we getting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special, but its also been confirmed that a special series of shorts based on the adventures of Baby Groot is currently in the works for Disney+. Does this mean that all of the stories will be set between the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Avengers: Infinity War? We currently have not earthly idea, but what we do have is the official announcement, as well as more title art:
Likewise, we don't have any plot details for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as James Gunn has kept those secrets under lock and key, but we are waiting with baited breath to learn any and all details that the production is willing to share – including, eventually, a month and day to go along with that year. Knowing the way that Marvel Studios productions typically run, we expect the film won't begin shooting until some time in 2022, but you can be sure that we'll be keeping a close eye out for all news that comes out regarding the project's development. So stay tuned here on CinemaBlend!
