James Gunn Shares Heartfelt Post After Wrapping Nearly 10 Years of Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 went into production back in November, and director James Gunn announced yesterday that the threequel had wrapped filming. The first Guardians of the Galaxy was released back in 2014, which means Gunn has been working with the Marvel team for the better part of a decade. The director previously confirmed that this will be the last film to feature the original Guardians crew, so it’s definitely an emotional time for those who have been involved since the beginning. In fact, Gunn shared a heartfelt post today reflecting on the last decade. 

“After over 100 days of shooting & over 3000 shots, this is the slate for the final shot of #GotGVol3, presented to me by the camera crew. It was an easy shot of Rocket seated, 1st with @seangunn, & then nothing there, & took everything in me not to break down sobbing on the spot,” Gunn wrote on Twitter. “The majority of the last ten years of my life have been spent working on & thinking about the Guardians. I still have a long road ahead of me with VFX & editing, but it was still momentous to me.”

“It is somewhat simple to explain to others how much I love this cast & crew. It is more difficult to explain how much I love these characters – that I see them as parts of myself & parts of those I love, & filming them, & writing their words, is a way of expressing that love,” Gunn continued. “Again, I’ll still be working with them over the next year until release, but shooting that last shot was a reminder of the warm impermanence of life & love, & how that impermanence makes it so precious, so valuable, & is a good reason to be grateful for what I have right now.” 

Gunn concluded, “Anyway. The camera crew also stuck their hand-made camera lens caps on the back of the slate for me. Much love to you all.” You can check out the director’s thread below:

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will feature the return of Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Dave Bautista (Drax). Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Sean Gunn (Kraglin/on-set Rocket), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), and Vin Diesel (Groot). New additions to the cast include Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and Chukwudi Iwuji in an unknown role. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. is set to be released on May 23, 2023. But first, the Guardians will be seen in Thor: Love and Thunder on July 8th and in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special later this year.