Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (stylized as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3) is a 2023 American superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy. It is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The movie is the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) and the 32nd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The movie was written and directed by James Gunn. It stars an ensemble cast featuring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Will Poulter, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Linda Cardellini, Nathan Fillion, and Sylvester Stallone. In the movie, the Guardians embark on a mission to protect Rocket (Cooper) from the High Evolutionary (Iwuji).
James Gunn said in November 2014 that he had initial ideas for a third movie in the series, and announced his return to write and direct in April 2017. Disney fired him from the movie in July 2018 following the resurfacing of controversial posts on Twitter. However, the studio rehired him 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 movie 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 premiered at Disneyland Paris on April 22, 2023, and was released in the United States on May 5, 2023, as part of Phase Five of the MCU.
Elizabeth Debicki reprises her role as Ayesha, the golden High Priestess and the leader of the Sovereign people. In that role, she had Adam Warlock created to destroy the Guardians.[21] Others who return in their roles from the Guardians movies and/or The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) are Michael Rosenbaum as Martinex,[22] Seth Green as the voice of Howard the Duck; Christopher Fairbank as the Broker; Stephen Blackehart and Rhett Miller as Steemie and Bzermikitokolok, two denizens of Knowhere; Gregg Henry as Quill's grandfather Jason; and Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, the former head of the Ravagers and Peter's deceased mentor. Maria Bakalova reprises her role as Cosmo the Spacedog, a member of the Guardians who is a sentient dog that developed psionic abilities after being sent into space by the Soviet Union.[23] Gunn changed Cosmo's gender from male, as depicted in the comics, to female for the movie. This was made as a tribute to the character's original inspiration Laika, a Soviet space dog who became one of the first animals in space.[24] In addition to voice acting, Bakalova provided motion capture for the character.[25] Cosmo was physically portrayed by dog actor Slate, after doing so for the Holiday Special.[26] The character was previously portrayed by dog actor Fred in the first two Guardians movies.[27][28]
Asim Chaudhry voices Teefs, an anthropomorphic walrus; Mikaela Hoover (who played Nova Prime's assistant in the first movie) voices Floor, an anthropomorphic rabbit;[17] Daniela Melchior appears as Ura,[21][29] the receptionist at Orgocorp;[30] Miriam Shor and Nico Santos appear as Recorder Vim and Recorder Theel respectively,[31] the scientifically-minded henchmen of the High Evolutionary;[32] Jennifer Holland appears as Administrator Kwol,[33] a security employee of Orgocorp;[30] Kai Zen appears as Phyla, one of the High Evolutionary's Star Child prisoners;[34] Judy Greer (who played Maggie Lang in the first two Ant-Man movies) voices War Pig, a cyborg pig and member of the Hell Spawns working for the High Evolutionary;[35] Reinaldo Faberlle voices Behemoth, a cyborg bird and member of the Hell Spawns who also works for the High Evolutionary;[36] Dee Bradley Baker voices Blurp,[37] a furry F'saki that is an unnamed Ravager's pet;[38][39] and Dane DiLiegro appears as an Humanimal octopus drug dealer on Counter-Earth (credited as "Unsavory Octopus").[40]
Cameos in the movie include Lloyd Kaufman as Gridlemop, a Krylorian on Knowhere who partakes in a card game with Kraglin; Pete Davidson as Phlektik, a guard at Arête Laboratories;[41][42] and writer and director James Gunn as the voice of Lambshank, a deformed experiment of the High Evolutionary that is among those freed by the Guardians of the Galaxy.[43]
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had its world premiere at Disneyland Paris on April 22, 2023,[44] and its North America premiere at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on April 27.[45] It was released in the United States on May 5.[46] The movie was previously set for release on May 1, 2020,[47] before it was dropped from that date.[48] It is part of Phase Five of the MCU.[23]
As of October 10, 2023, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has grossed $359 million in the United States and Canada and $486.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $845.5 million.[2][3]
On Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 398 reviews are positive. The average rating is 7.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A galactic group hug that might squeeze a little too tight on the heartstrings, the final Guardians of the Galaxy is a loving last hurrah for the MCU's most ragtag family."[49] On Metacritic, the movie has a score of 64 out of 100 based on 63 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[50]