Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (stylized in marketing as Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3) is a 2023 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 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). Written and directed by James Gunn, it features an ensemble cast including 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 film, the Guardians must save Rocket's (Cooper) life from the High Evolutionary (Iwuji).
Gunn stated in November 2014 that he had initial ideas for a third and final 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 him. Gunn's return was publicly revealed in March 2019, with production resuming after he completed work for DC on 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 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, as part of Phase Five of the MCU. Like its predecessors, it was a critical and commercial success, with many deeming it to be a satisfactory conclusion to the trilogy. It grossed over $848.6 million worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2023. At the 96th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Visual Effects.
Plot[edit]
At their new headquarters on Knowhere, the Guardians of the Galaxy are attacked by Adam Warlock, a Sovereign warrior created by High Priestess Ayesha who seeks to destroy them for stealing from her.[a] After critically wounding Rocket, Adam is stabbed by Nebula and flees. The Guardians' med-packs are ineffective at healing Rocket's wounds, who has a kill switch embedded in him by the organization Orgocorp. The Guardians travel to Orgocorp's headquarters to find the switch's override code and save Rocket's life.
As Rocket lies unconscious, he recalls his past. He was found as a baby raccoon and was experimented on by the High Evolutionary, Orgocorp's leader, who sought to enhance and anthropomorphize animal lifeforms (Humanimals) to create an ideal society called Counter-Earth. Rocket befriended his fellow Batch 89 test subjects: the otter Lylla, the walrus Teefs, and the rabbit Floor. The High Evolutionary was impressed by Rocket's growing intelligence and used his insight to fix a defect in later Humanimal batches, but planned to harvest Rocket's brain for further research and exterminate the obsolete Batch 89. Rocket attempted to free his friends, but the High Evolutionary killed Lylla and mocked Rocket for showing grief over her death. Enraged, Rocket mauled the High Evolutionary, whose henchmen killed Teefs and Floor in the ensuing firefight. Rocket fled in a spaceship.