James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is approaching, and it is the final time fans will see the cosmic misfits together. Now Gunn has confirmed that the film will be the longest movie in the series.
Following the events of Thor: Love and Thunder and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will see Peter Quill -- still reeling from the loss of Gamora -- rally his team of misfits to embark on another mission to defend the universe and one of their own. Filming began in November 2021 and lasted until early May of last year. The film will also introduce exciting new heroes and villains, including Will Poulter's Adam Warlock and Chukwudi Iwuji's High Evolutionary.
On Instagram, Gunn responded to fan questions about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, sharing that it will be the longest of the trilogy. “It’s longer than 1 & 2,” he wrote, but he didn’t specify the exact runtime. The first Guardians of the Galaxy film clocks in at 2 hours and 2 minutes, while Vol. 2 is 2 hours and 17 minutes, so that might give fans a sense of how long Vol. 3 will be.
While longer runtimes don't necessarily equate to better films. However, MCU projects such as Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever prove that sometimes a film should take its time with the story and its characters rather than rush by, especially because MCU projects include action set pieces that take up a significant portion of screen time. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 having a lot in store, it makes sense to have a more epic runtime.
Gunn once stated that he has his work cut out with the third entry, but he is confident Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can avoid the trilogy curse. While he admits third chapters of movie trilogies often fail to stick the landing, Gunn believes Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 provides enough new story to meet audience expectations. He specifically pointed to Rocket Raccoon's backstory as one of the main reasons he wanted to complete the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel as Groot, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri, Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord, and Maria Bakalova as Cosmo the Spacedog.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 arrives in theatres on May 5, 2023.
Source: James Gunn/Instagram
