'Guardians of the Galaxy 3' will likely be the last with 'current team' says James Gunn

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will most likely be the last movie from the rag-tag bunch of Marvel superheroes, reckons director James Gunn.

Gunn introduced Peter Quill – aka Star-Lord – and his fellow galactic miscreants Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Nebula and Rocket Raccoon in 2014.

Read more: How to watch the Marvel movies in order

He followed it up with the sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in 2017, in which they were joined by Pom Klementieff’s Mantis.

Asked on Instagram (via Screenrant) over the weekend whether the final movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be the last, he replied: “It's probably my last one, and probably the last with the current team.

“But you never know!”

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, in which the Guardians pitched in to defeat Gamora's father Thanos, Thor joined their ranks too, meaning that Thor actor Chris Hemsworth is in line for this third movie.

But after that, it sounds like they'll be disbanding.

Gunn will step up to make the third chapter in the Guardians series once he's done with The Suicide Squad for DC and Warner Bros.

Read more: Taika Waititi perfecting the Thor: Love and Thunder script

He was publicly fired by Disney in 2018 from making the third Guardians film, after a far-right activist published tweets he'd sent in the early 2000s joking about a host of inappropriate matters.

The studio later backtracked and reinstated him, by which time he'd agreed to helm the Suicide Squad sequel for DC.

It's not known yet when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be released, but it's likely to be some time in 2023.