When Marvel and Disney brought James Gunn back to direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, based on the script he had already written, it was not yet known when the movie would fit in the schedule for the next phase of Marvel Cinematic Universe stories. Now thanks to a few messages from Gunn on Instagram, we have a slightly better idea.
In the comments of the above Instagram post, Gunn stated that the start of production is about a year off. This means pre-production things like casting are just at the beginning stages. So any rumors you’ve heard about who has been cast in the film beyond the core cast members are unfounded. No one has been cast.
We do know one character who is not coming back. In a recent Instagram Q&A Gunn confirmed the all blue Yondu would not come back to life in the third volume.
“Not to life, no. If a character dies in my films, they will likely stay dead,” said Gunn. “I think stakes are important.”
That doesn’t rule out Yondu’s appearance via flashback, of course.
Aside from the Black Panther sequel, there are three untitled Marvel films planed for 2022 and four untitled films in 2023. Which one becomes Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 remains to be seen. Gunn is currently hard at work on his reboot of the Warner Bros film “Suicide Squad” but we are anxiously awaiting his return to the Guardians of the Galaxy.