There will be SPOILERS forGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2below, so if you want to go in completely fresh and devoid of spoilers, you may want to stop reading now. While promotingGuardians 2last month, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed some interesting details about the timeline of this superhero sequel, and how it may relate toAvengers: Infinity War, which is currently filming and slated for release on June 21, 2025. Now thatGuardians of that Galaxy 3has been confirmed, James Gunn has addressed where that movie will take place within theMarvel Cinematic Universe. This is your last chance to avoid SPOILERS so read on at your own risk.
The originalGuardians of the Galaxywas set in the year 2014, and Kevin Feige confirmed thatGuardians 2only takes place a few months later, meaning this upcoming movie is still set in 2014. Furthermore, Kevin Feige has also teased thatAvengers: Infinity Warwill be set four years afterGuardians 2, meaning it will be set in the year 2018, when it will be released, andInfinity Warwill likely feature theHulk vs. Grootshowdown Vin Diesel has teased in the past, with a fully-grown Groot. Earlier today,James Gunnwas asked on Twitter if there is a chance thatGuardians 3will be set beforeAvengers 3andAvengers 4, since there is a four-year gap in the timeline. Here’s what theGuardians 3director had to say below in a brief statement.
“No. Vol. 3 will take place AFTER Avengers 3 & 4.”
While a four-year gap would be plenty of time to set a newGuardians adventure, it’s possible that this Guardians timeline gap was set in place on purpose, to give Baby Groot time to grow bigger than ever. Vin Diesel has teased in previous interview that the Groot we saw in the firstGuardians of the Galaxymovie was a “freshman in college” and we still haven’t seen the “full-fledged working-man Groot.” It’s possible that, with the four-year gap betweenGuardians of the Galaxy 2andAvengers: Infinity War, we could see this massive Groot do some serious damage, and perhaps square off with the Hulk.
James Gunn has recently stated that he has already started writingGuardians 3, hinting that he has discussed a bigger role forZoe Saldana’s Gamora, which could likely mean a bigger role for her estranged sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) as well. There will also likely be more with the new team member Mantis (Pom Klementieff), who has been confirmed to return inInfinity War, although no specific story details have been given yet. The writer-director hasn’t said how far along he is in the writing process, so it may be quite some time before we have any details about the story.
It isn’t known if other new cast members such asKurt Russell(Ego the Living Planet), the Sovereign’s Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) or others like Taserface (Chris Sullivan) and Starhawk (Sylvester Stallone) will be back forGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It has been confirmed thatGuardians 3will be part of the Phase 4 lineup, but an official release date has not been set. Take a look at the fan’s question toJames Gunnbelow, along with the director’s response.
