James Gunn Gives An Update On Guardians Of The Galaxy 3, Says It's A "Heavier" Story

James Gunn has shared an update on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is scheduled to hit theaters in 2023. He told Entertainment Weekly that the script has been finished for some time already, and that the story will be "heavier" in nature.

Gunn will shoot Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after he finishes the Peacemaker TV show starring John Cena, which is currently filming. "I'm still shooting Peacemaker, but I'm starting to work on Guardians 3," Gunn said. "For Guardians 3, the script has basically been written for a long time. I've been playing with it in little ways over the years, but it's basically stayed the same since three years ago."

Regarding the script itself, Gunn said, "It's pretty heavy, actually. It's a heavier story, so it's an emotional process to go through." He didn't elaborate on this, so we can only imagine what he means. The Guardians of the Galaxy series isn't exactly known for being too serious, so it's intriguing to think about how it might make some kind of turn with this new installment.

Gunn also confirmed that he's going to film the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special at the same time as Vol. 3, with some of the same sets. "That's a blast," Gunn said of the special. "I wrote that a couple of months ago, and I'm really, really happy with it. I'm going to shoot that at the same time as Guardians 3. So we're using some of the same sets. I think it's going to be a good holiday special."

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is penciled in for release on May 5, 2023, so it's still a long time off. There are eight MCU films coming before it, including Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (September 2021), Eternals (November 2021), Spider-Man: No Way Home (December 2021), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (March 2022), Thor: Love and Thunder (May 2022), Black Panther: Wakanda Forver (July 2022), The Marvels (November 2022), and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (February 2023). For more, check out GameSpot's rundown of the MCU Phase 4 and everything we know.

Gunn was initially fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 before being reinstated, which is something he recently spoke about in terms of what he learned from the experience.

Before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits screens, Square Enix's new single-player Guardians of the Galaxy video game arrives in October across console and PC. It's the latest game from Square Enix's partnership with Marvel, following Marvel's Avengers.

Gunn's next movie is The Suicide Squad, which comes to theaters and HBO Max on August 6. For more, check out GameSpot's report from the set of the movie, including our own chat with Gunn and other members of the production team.