James Gunn Reveals Why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Missed Out on Comic-Con

Marvel Studios Present Kevin Feige blew fans minds during the studio’s epic Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, releasing a massive Phase 4 slate giving fans a lot of exciting projects to look forward to over the next few years, both in terms of television and movies. There was one announcement that was notably missing from the lineup, however. The much-anticipated Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 didn’t make its way onto the slate, but fans shouldn’t worry. Director James Gunn took to Twitter with the explanation why.

On the social media site Saturday evening, a fan asked why there wasn’t an announcement for Vol. 3 at the presentation to which Gunn replied that he is finishing The Suicide Squad before heading back the Guardians.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Gunn replied. “Guardians Vol. 3 IS happening, but I am finishing The Suicide Squad first.”

As fans will recall, it was announced earlier this year that Gunn had been reinstated as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Marvel Studios and would be pulling a bit of double duty directing both Guardians and The Suicide Squad, which he had signed on to with Warner Brothers before his return to the House of Mouse. At the time, a report from Deadline noted that things got a bit complicated with Gunn’s return.

“Gunn’s return to the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 got complicated when he signed on to write and direct the Suicide Squad sequel for Warner Bros and DC,” early reports shared. “Marvel Studios has agreed to commence production on Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after Gunn completes Suicide Squad 2.”

Since then, we’ve come to learn a decent amount about The Suicide Squad. David Dastmalchian (Ant-Man and the Wasp) will play Polka-Dot Man alongside Idris Elba (Avengers: Infinity War) who is rumored to be playing classic DC Comics character Bronze Tiger. John Cena (Bumblebee) is rumored for the role of Peacemaker, a.k.a. Christopher Smith, and it’s also since been clarified that the film is definitely not a sequel.

“It’s called The Suicide Squad,” producer Peter Safran previously told ComicBook.com. “It’s not Suicide Squad 2. It’s not a sequel. I will leave that alone but, yes, it’s called The Suicide Squad.”

Safran later referred to the project as a “total reboot.”

“So it’s The Suicide Squad and I think people should be extremely excited about it,” he told JoBlo. “It’s everything you would hope from a James Gunn script and I think that says a lot and that promises a lot and I know that we will deliver a lot.”

While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 didn’t make it to the Phase 4 Marvel slate, fans do have plenty to look forward to. Upcoming Marvel Studios projects include Black Widow on May 1, 2020, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier in Fall of 2020, The Eternals on November 6, 2020, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on February 12, 2021, WandaVision in Spring 2021, Loki in Spring 2021, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 7, 2021, What If…? In Summer 2021, Hawkeye in Fall 2021, and Thor: Love and Thunder on November 5, 2021.