James Gunn shoots down rumor that Star-Lord picked up new tunes while on Earth during 'Endgame'

One musical rumor concerning Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has officially been put to rest by James Gunn himself. The filmmaker, who has a pretty solid reputation for interacting with his fans on social media, confirmed on Twitter that Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) did not pick up any Awesome Mix tunes while on Earth during the events of Avengers: Endgame, but "left Earth as soon as he could." The entire soundtrack for Guardians Vol. 3 will come courtesy of the Zune that Kraglin (Sean Gunn) gifted to Peter Quill at the very end of Guardians Vol. 2. just prior to Yondu's funeral. When asked if Quill took the time to catch up with relatives or visit his mother's grave, Gunn responded with a simple "Nope." 

While the writer-director has yet to announce any specifics of the Oldies track listing, he has confirmed that the songs have already been locked in, so odds are good we'll hear at least one of them in the first trailer. With production still taking place in Atlanta and the theatrical bow a little more than a year away, however, an initial batch of teaser footage is probably quite a ways down the road.

Aside from the fact that it takes place after Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder (the latter will feature Quill), next to nothing is known about the plot for the third Guardians adventure. All that we have to go on are the little hints and teasers from Gunn, who recently tweeted that Vol. 3 is going to be "the last time people will see this team of Guardians." Moreover, it'll be his final contribution for the franchise he started in 2014.

Once filming on the MCU project has wrapped, the director plans to put all his time and effort into his DCEU television projects being spun out of The Suicide Squad. Season 2 of Peacemaker has already been green-lit, with a second mystery title chugging along in early development.

"I think I pretty much have decided that after I’m done with Guardians, I’m going to be doing television for at least a year," Gunn told Variety. "My mind’s made up on that. Not all the shows that we’re dealing with are things that I’m going to be writing and directing, so some of them may take different amounts of my my time. Peacemaker is going to be me writing, me directing and spending all my time on set. But other other shows [I] may not be writing and directing or not directing all the episodes."

Pratt, Sean Gunn, Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Vin Diesel (Groot), Elizabeth Debicki (Ayehsa), and Sylvester Stallone (Stakar Ogord) are all returning from previous installments. Newcomers include Will Poulter (Adam Warlock) and Chukwudi Iwuji. The latter — who appeared as mercenary and secret Butterfly Clemson Murn in Peacemaker — is apparently playing a major character, though neither he nor Gunn have given up any specifics about the role just yet.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is slated for a wide theatrical release on May 5, 2023. Unless anything has changed, a Guardians holiday special will premiere on Disney+ this December.