Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Brings Back James Gunn As Director/Writer

Despite rumors to the contrary, James Gunn will both write and direct a third movie in the Guardians of the Galaxy series.

Gunn confirmed the news on his Facebook page, dispelling rumors that he would not return in the same capacity for a third movie he had already confirmed. As he prepares to begin promoting the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Gunn said he knows the question he'll receive most is about whether he'll direct the sequel.

"Before I was able to honestly answer this, I needed to know it was, in my heart, what I truly felt called to do," Gunn wrote. "There is a history in Hollywood of haphazard endings to trilogies, and I didn't want to become a part of that dishonorable tradition of pretending the third one doesn't exist. I couldn't do it for the money, and I couldn't do it because it was what other people wanted me to do. I needed to do it because it was what I needed to do. I have never made choices in my career based on anything other than passion and love for the stories and characters, and I didn't want to start now.

"So, after many months of ruminations and discussions, I know the answer. I could save this answer for the first, random interviewer to ask me during the press junket but instead I thought I'd share it with the most important people in the Guardiansverse--you, the fans, who have been so incredibly supportive and enthusiastic over the past five years, it has moved me to tears on a regular basis.

"So, yes, I'm returning to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," he said, noting how much he loves the characters. He added that he believes "they have more adventures to go on and things to learn about themselves and the wonderful and sometimes terrifying universe we all inhabit. And, like in both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, we will work on creating the story that goes beyond what you expect."

Gunn also spoke about how much he's enjoyed working with Marvel and highlighted what purpose Vol. 3's story will serve.

"Much of what's happened in the MCU for the past ten or so years has been leading, in a big way, to the Avengers' Infinity War," he explained. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will happen after all that. It will conclude the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and help catapult both old and new Marvel characters into the next ten years and beyond. I will be working side-by-side with Kevin Feige and the gang to help design where these stories go, and make sure the future of the Marvel Cosmic Universe is as special and authentic and magical as what we have created so far."

Before Gunn gets to work on Vol. 3, we'll first see Vol. 2 released on May 5; you can check out a trailer for that here. Before that, Telltale will release the first episode of its upcoming adventure game series tomorrow, April 18.