20 facts you might not know about 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Before “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” came out, there was talk of James Gunn returning to write and direct a third film in the series. This news was officially announced in April 2017, just before “Vol. 2” would come out in May of that year. However, the film would not come out until May 2023 for a few reasons.

Gunn completed a treatment for the third “Guardians” movie in June 2017, with plans for the film to be released in May 2020. After originally including Adam Warlock in his script for “Vol. 2,” he was removed and only hinted at in a mid-credits scene, with the plan to include the cosmic character in the third film thanks to a suggestion from Kevin Feige. There was also talk that Mark Hamill might appear in the movie in a role that was never disclosed, and may not have made the final cut.

We won’t wade into it too much, but certain individuals on the internet made some bad-faith claims about tweets Gunn had posted in the past. Now, these tweets existed, but they were shock value, provocateur jokes from a guy who got his start on Troma films. Disney took the bait on the kerfuffle and announced that Gunn had been fired and that they had severed all ties with the writer/director.

In the wake of Gunn’s firing over joke tweets (dodgy as they may have been), the director himself took to Twitter to acknowledge he had started his career working in the realm of the “outrageous and taboo” and said his days of saying things just to get a reaction were “over.” Several actors, and also Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, rallied around Gunn, and the cast of “Guardians” issued a joint statement in support of Gunn.

While rumors were a director new to the MCU was being sought to direct the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie, it was planned that the screenplay Gunn had written would still serve as the basis of the script. As support for Gunn swelled, Marvel tried to convince Disney to change their mind, but they remained steadfast…for a bit.

In the middle of October 2018, Gunn finalized his exit settlement with Disney. Soon after that, Warner Bros. swooped in to hire Gunn to write, and possibly direct, “The Suicide Squad.” Seeing their former director quickly brought in by their main rivals in superhero films, reportedly the day after the “Suicide Squad” news dropped, Disney notified Gunn they were OK with him directing “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.” However, production was pushed to February 2021 to allow Gunn the time to directed “The Suicide Squad.”

Gunn was already planning for the third film in this franchise to focus on how Rocket came to be. Originally, though, it was going to be Marvel villain Annihilus, a Fantastic Four antagonist for the most part, as the villain in the film. Ultimately, though, Gunn landed on the High Evolutionary for the role.

Chukwudi Iwuji plays the High Evolutionary, and Gunn had plenty of experience with the actor. Gunn was working on “Peacemaker,” his HBO show spun off of “The Suicide Squad,” while also prepping “Vol. 3.” Iwuji had a role in that show, and in fact, his screen test for the High Evolutionary was shot on the “Peacemaker” set.

In the MCU, you can find villains that are considered more complex, such as Killmonger and Thanos. Gunn, though, had no interest in that. Based on the character of Doctor Moreau, whom Gunn called “a detestable character,” the High Evolutionary was designed to be the “cruelest MCU villain.” He and Iwuji were careful not to do anything that could engender any sympathy from the audience.

Building off the tease of Adam Warlock at the end of “Vol. 2,” somebody needed to be cast in the role, as we never actually saw him in the second film. George MacKay and Rege-Jean Page were also in the mix for what was an “untitled character,” but as Will Poulter worked toward getting the role, he was given more and more information about the character of Adam.

Linda Cardellini didn’t have exactly the most robust role as Laura Barton, wife of Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, though she did get to pop up here and there and have a decent role in the “Hawkeye” show. However, Cardellini now has a second character in the MCU as well. She voiced “Lylla,” the otter who is friends with Rocket.

If Gunn likes you, apparently you are good to go in your career. Iwuji isn’t the only example of that in “Vol. 3.” In addition to getting his buddy Michael Rooker back as Yondu one more time, Daniela Melchior has a small role after having been in “The Suicide Squad.” Nathan Fillion got another small role, this time as a guard at Orgocorp. Pete Davidson plays one of the creations of the High Evolutionary in a cameo. That is also true of Lloyd Kaufman, co-founder of Troma and the guy who gave Gunn his start.

Originally, there was a cameo written into “Vol. 3” for Kumail Nanjiani, a friend of Gunn’s. Then, the actor was cast as Kingo in “Eternals,” nixing the cameo. Kumail was probably too busy getting shredded to shoot the cameo anyway. Speaking of too busy, Miley Cyrus couldn’t return to voice Mainframe, so voiceover artist Tara Strong took the part.

Marvel movies are CGI fests, and the strain they have put on visual effects artists has become a common talking point. Of course, there are special effects in “Vol. 3,” but Gunn used mostly practical effects in the movie. Originally, this wasn’t the plan, but the sets that were constructed were too big to use ILM’s “StageCraft” technology, which was used by the likes of “The Mandalorian.” For example, the Guardians’ ship was a four-story set by itself.

Movies in the MCU may have comic book violence to them, but they are fairly tame all things considered. In fact, the F-word had never been used in an MCU movie (“Deadpool” not being in the MCU, of course), even though you can use it once in a non-sexual context in a PG-13 movie. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” crossed the Rubicon by having Peter Quill say it to Nebula. It was reportedly improvised by Chris Pratt, but at the behest of Gunn.

The needle drops of Gunn’s “Guardians” films have become synonymous with the movies. In 2017, prior to his firing, Gunn said he had a starting list of 181 songs he was considering for the movie. Eventually, he got that pared down, but one song was out of his reach. “Russian Roulette” by the punk band Lords of the New Church couldn’t be included because the legal rights to the song were in dispute.

Critically, and commercially, the MCU had dipped from the peak of “Avengers: Endgame” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” was able to get things back on track. It made $118.4 million domestically in its first weekend, beating the projection of $110 million by a bit. Notably, though, it made $62 million in its second weekend to top the box office again. The 48-percent decline was the best second-weekend hold of any MCU sequel. It was also the best of the Marvel films in the last couple of years by a sizable margin. For example, second best is “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which dropped 67 percent.

Perhaps people were just excited to see the Guardians of the Galaxy back. The third film in the trilogy made roughly $340 million domestically and just over $808 million worldwide. Perhaps it has a run left somewhere in the world that can boost that a bit, but it’s still a big-time success. It was the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2023. Domestically, it is second as well, though as of this writing, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is hot on its heels, and even “The Little Mermaid” might jump it.

At the end of “Vol. 3,” the film notes that Star-Lord will return, but notably, only Star-Lord is mentioned. Pratt has said that he would return to play Quill if he likes a script. Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, seems apathetic about returning. Meanwhile, Zoe Saldana has said that she is indeed done playing Gamora, but is cool if another actor steps into the role. All in all this is almost definitely the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Gunn may have come back to conclude the trilogy he always had in mind for his “Guardians” films, but his tumultuous time with Disney is likely over. In 2022, Gunn returned to Warner Bros. and DC in a big way. He and Peter Safran are now in charge of DC Studios, with Gunn effectively now the Kevin Feige of DC. Gunn is also writing and directing “Superman: Legacy,” to be released in July 2025.