Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Would Have Come Out Today

Today is the day which many Marvel fans are upset they are not in theaters watching Black Widow. The movie was dated for May 1, 2020 but pushed back due to the spreading of the coronavirus. However, while the change in plans pushed Black Widow back to November of this year, that may be where Scarlett Johansson’s movie was planned to drop all along. Originally, all signs seem to indicate that May 1, 2020 was the date which Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was supposed to make some noise in theaters. However, a shake up behind-the-scenes delayed the movie and put the now-delayed Black Widow in its spot.

In July of 2018, during the week of San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that James Gunn and Disney were parting ways when it came to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn, who directed the first two Guardians movies for Marvel Studios, was let go from the third movie’s directing gig despite the fact that production had been gearing up to get started. Sets were being built in Atlanta. The cast was getting ready to report to set. Crew members were hired for specific dates. Although it hadn’t been formally announced because nothing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe aside from Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home was revealed ahead of Avengers: Endgame’s release, Gunn’s third Guardians movie was expected to release on May 1, 2020.

It would have been the perfect film to maintain the momentum from Avengers: Endgame. The Guardians of the Galaxy played a major role in it and they likely would have inherited Chris Hemsworth as Thor, at least for a portion of the movie. Now, some the Guardians of the Galaxy characters will appear in Thor: Love and Thunder instead following their pairing at the end of Marvel’s Infinity Saga. It’s unclear whether or not this means Thor will come back to them for the third Guardians movie.

One thing that is clear is that there is a major win which is not exactly hidden in all of this. Sure, we have to wait until 2023 to see Gunn conclude his Guardians trilogy, but now the director is bringing his enthusiasm, talent, and knowledge of comic book characters to a DC Comics property in the mean time. While Gunn was not under contract with Disney and Marvel Studios, he was quickly approached by Warner Brothers. Those conversation lead to The Suicide Squad and Gunn seems over the moon about his work with the characters from another major comic franchise.

Gunn, with good reason, is happy about the outcome of all of this. The director always seems to develop great relationships with his cast and crew, as evidenced when he was able to recruit talent ranging from Chris Pratt to VFX designers for his Quarantine Watch Party. This seems to be another instance where Gunn is forging new relationships and creating characters fans are quickly going to fall in love with, though his announcement of the cast warned everyone not to “get too attached.”

According to producer Peter Safran, this film is not a sequel or reboot, despite being set in the DC movie world where existing characters and stars will be returning. These standalone movies will be the focus for the franchise, going forward. “I think that is the goal,” Safran said told Comicbook.com in 2019. “It is giving heroes their time to shine and not feeling like you have to shoehorn in some universal connection amongst them all. The studio’s been incredibly supportive and DC’s been supportive about saying, ‘Take the time that you need to introduce these characters in the right way and tell the stories that audiences want to see with these characters.’”

As it stands, The Suicide Squad will release in August of 2021. Production on the film wrapped earlier this year and no one seems to be anticipating a delay for the movie. When Gunn is done with his work on the Warner Brothers and DC Comics title, he will go back to work on concluding his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

As much as a delay on the Marvel film might be a bummer, having Gunn get to work in the DC Comics world with such an acclaimed resumé and overall enthusiasm for these characters serves as an absolute win.