James Gunn Explains Why the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Comic-Con Trailer Isn't Online

By Cameron Bonomolo

It will be a little longer before fans can watch the long-awaited trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Director James Gunn took the stage during Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday to preview the Marvel Studios sequel, which wrapped filming in May and is scheduled to open in theaters on May 5, 2023. Set to "Do You Realize" by The Flaming Lips, the first footage teased the origins of Baby Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and revealed looks at Ravager Gamora (Zoe Saldana) and the all-gold Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a new character teased in Vol. 2's post-credits scene back in 2017. The trailer was screened exclusively for the Comic-Con crowd and did not drop online for fans at home.

"Wish we all could have experienced the @Guardians trailer yesterday," a fan tweeted at Gunn Sunday, attaching an image of sad Baby Groot. "It's truly sad how Marvel holds your amazing space opera work of art from us the fans."

In response, Gunn tweeted, "I wish you could have too. But it's not just Marvel, it's also me. Although I love the teaser some VFX aren't where I'd want them to be for repeated views & close inspection — remember we didn't wrap long ago — so you'll have to wait just a beat! Sorry!" 

Marvel Studios debuted trailers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the convention and online, but first-look footage from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion was kept tightly under wraps inside Hall H. (Read a detailed account of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 SDCC trailer here.) 

Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder, the sequel reunites Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Rocket (Cooper) in their search for a timeline-displaced Gamora (Saldana), who died in Avengers: Infinity War but time-traveled from 2014 in Endgame. 

Read More: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Trailer: Full Footage Description • Chukwudi Iwuji Crashes Marvel's Comic-Con Panel With High Evolutionary First Look • Comic-Con 2022: Marvel Studios Panel Recap

"I think it's really been about telling one story between the three films with a couple of sideways adventures," Gunn said on stage at Hall H. "But I think it really is about the one story. This is the final arc that we began at the very beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy, with Peter Quill, with Rocket, seeing where Nebula goes, and even Kraglin, who started out as saying one or two lines in the first movie and is now a main Guardian of the Galaxy."

Added Sean Gunn, who plays Kraglin and doubles as the on-set performer for Rocket, "We were legitimately choked up backstage, watching this footage, because we f—ing care. We care."

Starring Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Spacedog, Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, Vin Diesel as Groot, and Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens in theaters on May 5, 2023. 

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