Overview
After a few years absent from screens, the Guardians of the Galaxy are back in a big way. First, they popped up in this year's Thor: Love and Thunder, although Marvel's ragtag space-hopping superhero crew only made a brief appearance. Then, they scored their own — and the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first-ever — Disney+ holiday special. Next comes the long-awaited Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which'll soar into cinemas in 2023, and just unveiled its first trailer.
When this threequel hits, it will have been six years since 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Vol. 3 knows it. "We've been gone for quite a while," Peter Quill aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt, Jurassic World Dominion) says in the just-dropped sneak peek — and yes, the film is set to have a sense of occasion about it.
Not only do Quill, Mantis (Pom Klementieff, Westworld), Drax (Dave Bautista, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), Groot (Vin Diesel, Fast & Furious 9), Nebula (Karen Gillan, The Bubble) and Rocket (Bradley Cooper, Nightmare Alley) arrive back in cinemas in their own flick, but this might be their last mission. "We'll all fly away together one last time, into the forever — that beautiful sky," says Rocket, which might be the calmest thing he's ever uttered.
There's no Kevin Bacon in the trailer, or likely in the movie, but there is the return of another familiar face — because Vol. 3 is serious about getting the team back together. Off-screen, that includes usual writer/director James Gunn (The Suicide Squad), after a chaotic few years that saw him fired by Marvel, then make the switch to the DC Extended Universe — where he's now actually co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios. Gunn returned to the MCU, however, for the holiday special and Vol. 3.
The new film picks up after the festive episode, after the rest of the MCU's mayhem over the past few years, and with Quill still coping with big events. But, the Guardians still need to defend the universe, including on that possibly last quest that could lead to their end.
Also back is Sean Gunn (The Terminal List) as Kraglin, while Bodies Bodies Bodies and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan's Maria Bakalova voices Cosmo the Spacedog as she did in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Plus, Will Poulter (Dopesick) joins the cast as Adam Warlock — and Chukwudi Iwuji (Peacemaker) as The High Evolutionary.
Check out the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 below:
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 releases in cinemas Down Under on May 4, 2023.