It’s the current cover star of Empire Magazine and after scoring a rare 100 within Marvel’s internal test screenings, excitement for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is undoubtedly through the roof.
Due to storm theaters in May, James Gunn’s spacefaring sequel is the first of three Marvel tentpoles slated for a 2017 release – Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok being the other two – and it’s seemingly on course for one of the biggest opening weekends ever. Think The Force Awakens or Joss Whedon’s original Avengers movie and you’ll begin to get a sense of how Guardians 2 is tracking.
All of this pent-up anticipation already has fans dreaming of a potential Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and though James Gunn himself recently conceded that a third film is all but inevitable – one of Marvel’s mysterious 2020 movies, perhaps? – the writer-director clarified those very comments while chatting to Yahoo Movies.
“There are no specific plans for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. But we know unless something goes horribly wrong – which is always possible, you never know – I think that Marvel would want to make another movie. [Marvel chief] Kevin Feige a year and a half ago said, ‘Yeah, one of our things that we’d be thinking about will be a Guardians Vol. 3.'”
“No specific plans” indicates that Gunn is firmly focused on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – and rightly so – and doesn’t want to undercut the sequel’s arrival by fuelling excitement for a potential threequel. There’s also the issue of whether the director will return at the helm, though Marvel will surely want to lock down James Gunn for another installment given that he essentially transformed Star-Lord and Co. into household names.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is set to make a beeline for theaters on May 5th in the States. Those across the pond will be able to revel in the Guardians’ latest adventure a little earlier, given Gunn’s sci-fi sequel is expected to open for those in the UK and Ireland on April 28th. And yes, it’ll have a post-credits scene.