Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’s James Gunn Offers Silver Lining On The Movie’s Original Delay

Rocket in Guardians 2

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After a series of delays, Phase Four of the MCU has finally begun on Disney+. But there are also a slew of highly anticipated movies coming to theaters, including with Black Widow and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The latter project was originally going to be one of the first movies of Phase Four, but was pushed back years after Gunn was temporarily fired. Now the acclaimed filmmaker recently offered a silver lining on the movie’s delay.

James Gunn became a household name thanks to his work on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, where he took a scrappy group of unknown characters and made them fan favorites. Unfortunately for said fans, they’ll have to wait until 2023 for Vol. 3 of the franchise to finally arrive. But Gunn has found the bright side to the movie having to pass its original release date. In his words,

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Well, he’s got a point. The last year saw countless projects being pushed back, many of them a full calendar year. It’s been heartbreaking seeing movies like Black Widow delayed time and time again, and James Gunn seems happy he didn’t have to go through that rigmarole for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

James Gunn shared his thoughts on Guardians 3 over on his personal Twitter account. Gunn is super active on social media, and often uses it to speak directly with fans about either Guardians or his highly anticipated DC debut The Suicide Squad. And while fans can’t wait to reunite with Star-Lord, Gamora and the crew, the movie wouldn’t have arrived in theaters yet regardless.

Marvel fans can re-watch the Guardians of the Galaxy’s time in the MCU so far on Disney+. You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

As previously mentioned, a number of Marvel movies have been delayed over the past year as the studio held out in hopes of making money at the box office once theaters have reopened to full capacity. So we’ve had to wait extra time for projects like Black Widow, Eternals, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

It seems like James Gunn is just as excited as the rest of us about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is expected to be the final chapter in the current team’s story. Because of this, he’s glad he didn’t have to continually change the release date of the upcoming threequel. Guardians 3 only recently got its official 2023 slot, and it’s not expected to be altered.

Besides Guardians 3, there’s going to be a variety of other Marvel content featuring the group of cosmic heroes. The Guardians will have an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, which picks up after the events of Avengers: Endgame. Additionally, there’s a holiday special and animated Groot shorts coming to Disney+.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to arrive in theaters on May 5th, 2023. In the meantime, check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.