Now that James Gunn is back we know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is in the best hands that it possibly could be. We all wanted to see the culmination of what James Gunn has built, and even though the ending has been delayed, we now know that it is coming for sure. The first movie was a total blast and it totally set up the expansion of the MCU cosmos.
Vol. 2 literally showed us The Expansion, brought in many new characters and opened up the Universe even further. So, it will be really interesting to see what Vol. 3 does, especially with the Fox Marvel characters also at their disposal now.
A lot of how things will play out in Vol. 3 will depend upon Avengers: Endgame as the band may not be complete after Endgame. Gamora is currently dead and many people have reported that she will continue to remain dead. She is the heart of the team and we don’t know how things will work out with her not being with the team. She has to come back as she carries the team on her shoulders. Quill may be the head, but Gamora is the backbone.
Reports have suggested that Vol. 3 will dig deeper into Rocket’s origin, bringing in his creator. It also has to pay off the set up of the Ravager Guardians led by Sylvester Stallone’s Starhawk, and The Sovereign with Ayesha & Adam Warlock. But since we know that this is a James Gunn movie, we will be taken to another ride through the cosmos as well. So the question that arises here is whether or not this roller coaster will include any of the Fox characters that Marvel has at their disposal now.
The Disney-Fox acquisition is finally done and every upcoming MCU movie could actually bring in any character from 20th Century Fox if need be. Back when Gunn was developing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, he mentioned that he wanted Silver Surfer aka Norin Rad into the mix. The fact that Fox had the rights to the character prevented the use of Silver Surfer in Vol. 2. Although Gunn did manage to bring in another Fox character, that was Ego the living planet, and Fox took Deadpool’s Negasonic Warhead in exchange.
But now that the deal is done and dusted, how about bringing Norrin Rad in finally? Gunn won’t even need to use his Silver Surfer persona. He could just be an individual from his planet which would in turn set up the entry of Galactus. James Gunn is currently working on The Suicide Squad which will be a complete reboot set in the Worlds of DC. Marvel agreed to the fact that Gunn will take up Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 again only after he is done with The Suicide Squad.
So even with that, he should have plenty of time to go back and do some rewrites if he feels like including a new Fox character. The script of Vol. 3 is already done for now, but it will be really interesting if Gunn adds some more cosmic pieces which he couldn’t earlier. The Disney Fox deal does give him the freedom to do whatever he wants now.
The conclusion is, that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could actually become the first movie to bring Fox characters into the MCU. It will take Kevin Feige and co some time to bring in movies with the core X-Men and Fantastic Four characters and those projects will at least take 2-3 years.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is likely to start filming around February 2021, so May 2022 should be the likely date for its release. If Marvel doesn’t produce an X-Men or Fantastic Four movie by then, or if the likes of Storm do not show up in Black Panther 2, then Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could certainly be the film where it all starts!
