'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' Production Reportedly Pushed Back to 2021

Despite the firing of James Gunn, Marvel Studios still has plans to make a third Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be a very long time before that film sees the light of day.

The newest update from Production Weekly (via Pursue News) reports that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to begin production in February 2021. If you recall, the film was initially supposed to start filming in early 2019, now it's been pushed back by two whole years.

So it's safe to say the new Guardians of the Galaxy won't arrive in 2020, as was the original plan. In fact, this update suggests that it could be until 2022 before the film sees a theatrical release, perhaps even longer.

At this point, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is still without a director, since Disney has made it clear that the company won't be rehiring James Gunn for the role. However, Gunn's script will likely still be used for the film, and the Production Weekly report lists him as the movie's sole writer. It has also been revealed that production will take place under the working title Hot Christmas.

Gunn's brother, Sean, who portrays Kraglin in the franchise, recently went on record to say that he has been contacted by Disney and assured that the movie would continue, but that he wasn't sure when. Gunn also made it clear that his brother's script would be used for the upcoming sequel.

"I don't really know yet what's going on with Guardians 3," Gunn said. "I know that Disney still wants to make the movie. I know that they have every intention of using the script that my brother wrote. Obviously, that was a very unfortunate situation for everybody, most of all him, but I am also somebody who had been preparing to spend half a year making that movie and now that's up in the air."

"Obviously, I think it's a tricky proposition for them to find another director to step in -- and also the scheduling of a lot of other actors who are incredibly busy can't be easy," he continued. "But I know that they plan on making the movie. I had not been contacted at all for a while, but I was recently contacted by Marvel saying, 'Yeah, we do plan to make this movie. We're just not sure when yet.'"

Are you disappointed to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 delayed for so long? Who do you think should direct the movie? Let us know in the comments!