Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (stylized as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3) is an upcoming American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is intended to be the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and the 32nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film is written and directed by James Gunn and stars an ensemble cast featuring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Elizabeth Debicki, Maria Bakalova, and Sylvester Stallone. In the film, the Guardians embark on a mission to protect Rocket (Cooper). James Gunn said in November 2014 that he had initial ideas for a third film in the series, and announced his return to write and direct in April 2017. Disney fired him from the film in July 2018 following the resurfacing of controversial posts on Twitter, but the studio reversed course by that October and reinstated Gunn as director. Gunn's return was publicly revealed in March 2019, with production resuming after Gunn completed work on his film The Suicide Squad (2021) and the first season of its spin-off series Peacemaker (2022). Filming began in November 2021 at Trilith Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, and lasted until early May 2022. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is scheduled to be released in the United States on May 5, 2023, as part of Phase Five of the MCU.