‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Now Has a Working Title

Guardians of the Galaxy
In spite of the significant hold-up caused by James Gunn’s unexpected firing from Marvel (and subsequent hiring by DC for the sequel to Suicide Squad), work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is still ongoing. The movie now has a production title, which suggests that Marvel may be close to finding a new director to take over for the project, and the name itself hints at the inclusion of a popular Marvel Cosmic character.

 

According to Omega UndergroundGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be made under the working title of “Hot Christmas”. Given frequent comparisons of the character of Adam Warlock (who was teased in one of the post-credits scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2) to Jesus, the “Christmas” part of the title could refer to his proper introduction into the MCU. Though James Gunn would not officially confirm or deny Adam’s presences in the movie when he was set to direct it, he did state that Adam would play a big part in the future of Marvel’s cosmic plans, and Adam’s arrival could be perfect to usher in a new age of cosmic stories.

 

James Gunn may have introduced the Guardians of the Galaxy mythology to a wide audience, but the franchise is much bigger than one man. They’re not going to cancel a franchise that has brought home over $1.6B in ticket sales just because they lost the guy who got them to that point. Just to be clear, I still think it was a mistake for Marvel to fire him, one which DC were all too happy to take advantage of. But I have every confidence that Vol. 3, which will still use some version of the script he developed, will end up being a good, successful movie with or without his credit as a director.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was unofficially scheduled for a release window in the first half of 2020, but plans have likely changed after James Gunn was dismissed from the project. Production will still likely take place at some point in 2019, albeit later than the February 2019 start date that was originally intended.