Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the last movie with this team, James Gunn says

polygon.com:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3will be the end of the road for this particular band of scrappy misfits, according to series director James Gunn. The upcoming superhero film, which is currently scheduled to be released on May 23, 2023, will close out this team’s trilogy and story, the director told Deadline on its Hero Nation podcast.

Gunn was definitive in saying that this would be the last time people saw this group of characters together as the Guardians of the Galaxy saying, “this is the end for us. This is the last time people will see this team of Guardians.”

However, this shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise for fans. Gunn has been saying that the the third movie would be the end as early as 2017.

“I think the first three movies tell a single story and that story is pretty simple,” Gunn told the Toronto Sun. “I think that there could be a Vol. 4, but it would not be the same. It would not be the same group and would not be telling the same story. I don’t want to get too much into it because it will spoil too much, but I think basically the story of this group ends with Vol. 3.”

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Of course, quite a bit has changed for Gunn and the movie since 2017. For instance, back then, the Vol. 3 was supposed to be released in 2019. Despite Gunn being fired and subsequently rehired by Disney since then, it seems that the plan for this to be a self-contained trilogy is still the same as it always was.

But Gunn is also aware that movie trilogies carry their own baggage. “I just want to be true to the characters and true to the story and I want to give people the wrap up they deserve,” Gunn said on the Hero Nation podcast. “That is always a little bit scary. I’m very aware that the third film in most trilogies suck.”