Zoe Saldana explains why she thinks that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is so bittersweet. The Gamora actress first joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014, with the first installment of Guardians of the Galaxy alongside Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), and Vin Diesel (Groot). The character of Gamora died during Avengers: Infinity War at the hands of her father Thanos, but another variant of Gamora from a different timeline joined the MCU during the events of Avengers: Endgame.
The Guardians will be making their next appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, which is coming this year, and it will pick up the story right where we left everybody’s band of misfits in Endgame. After helping Thor in his next solo film, they will be getting their own third film, but we still don’t know much about the plot of the movie. Reportedly the central focus of the film will be around the search for Gamora’s new variant. James Gunn, the writer/director of the GOTG franchise has also teased a few things about the upcoming film, including a look at Rocket’s deeply traumatic origins.
During an interview with Screen Rant, while promoting her upcoming Netflix film The Adam Project starring Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner, and Mark Ruffalo, Saldana shared a few things about her playing the character of Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The actress shared her thoughts on working during COVID and why she thinks that GOTG Vol. 3 is so bittersweet. Read Saldana’s full quote below:
“I have to say we’re dealing with a lot of adversities, which is COVID and scheduling and things like that. But when we’re there, we’re having such a wonderful time, you know? It’s a bittersweet moment because it is our understanding that this will be the last Guardians of the Galaxy. So it’s bitter in that sense, but it’s sweet because we are all very grateful to have lived this journey together and James Gunn really is giving us a beautiful ending, and this story is really compelling. I think it’s going to be the best one yet. We’re having a blast, but then again, it’s just not easy to shoot a Guardians movie. There’s a lot of action. There’s a lot of dust. There’s a lot of makeup, endless hours of makeup, but the end result is so worth it.”
The third installment in the franchise was announced back in April 2017, before the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and then in January 2018, Gunn revealed that the third film will be coming out in 2020. However, the production on the film was halted when Gunn was publicly fired in July later that same year, following the surfacing of some old tweets by Gunn. The production on the was then finally got back on track in March 2019, when Gunn was rehired. The plot of the upcoming film is not yet known but we do know that Poulter will be playing the role of Adam Warlock, as it was teased by Elizabeth Debicki‘s Ayesha in the post-credit scene of GOTG Vol. 2.
Along with GOTG Vol. 3, Gunn is also working with Marvel to write and direct the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which will be coming to Disney+ in December of 2022, and he will also serve as an executive producer on the Disney+ series I Am Groot, which is about the Guardians character.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is supposed to be hitting theaters on May 5, 2023.