James Gunn Says There Won't Be A 'Guardians Of The Galaxy 4', Calls Harley Quinn His Favorite Character He's Written

James Gunn recently confirmed that both The Suicide Squad and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 were still on track to meet their intended release dates. Of course, there's always the chance that might change since there's a lot of time between now and when those movies will get released. Thankfully, The Suicide Squad is being worked on remotely in post-production, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 isn't slated to start shooting for a long time. Even so, Gunn took the time to tease both movies by responding to some fan questions about the sequels over the weekend.

First up, James Gunn was asked about the long game when it comes to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Even though cameras won't even start rolling on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for a few years, the director already knows that this will be the end of the road for his work on this franchise.

Gunn has previously addressed the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will mark the end of a trilogy arc for the cosmic Marvel characters, effectively wrapping up stories for this iteration of the superhero team. We're not sure if the franchise will continue after that with some of the characters James Gunn brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the director won't return for Guardians of the Galaxy 4 if that's the case. In a response to a fan question on social media (via Comic Book Movie), Gunn said:

"I absolutely never said I wouldn't do a Vol. 2, as I planned to do a trilogy from the beginning if the first one worked. I have no plans to do a [fourth]."

Furthermore, it sounds like there's a chance that one of the Guardians of the Galaxy might not make it out of the franchise alive. A Reddit user captured his answer to a question in an Instagram story. Here it is:

Keep in mind that merely confirming that "someone" will die in the sequel doesn't mean it will be a main character. In fact, Gunn probably answered this question simply because it was so vaguely worded. Of course someone will die in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but the real question is whether it will be a significant death or just some random henchman or space criminals. Perhaps it will be someone tied to Rocket Raccoon's past, which will be a big part of the sequel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will start shooting sometime in the next two years.

Even though James Gunn clearly has passion for the franchise he started with Guardians of the Galaxy, he's equally excited about his venture over at Warner Bros. Pictures with the DC Comics property The Suicide Squad.

During an Instagram live Q&A session, Gunn was asked to choose between The Joker or Harley Quinn. Though Gunn has love for The Joker, he absolutely gushed about writing for Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad. Gunn said (via ComingSoon.net):

"Oh, I love the Joker, but Harley is one of my favourite characters I've ever written," Gunn said."In fact, she's probably my favourite comic character whose personality was well-defined before I wrote her for the screen. She's an incredible companion to have while writing her insane actions and dialogue. Did I say I LOVED her?"

This should come as no surprise since James Gunn also said that Margot Robbie might be the best actor he's ever worked with during production last fall. She's a fun character with an edge that certainly allows James Gunn to tap into some more twisted humor, not to mention being a complete badass.

But Gunn has quite the roster of characters that he's playing with since The Suicide Squad has an ensemble cast that includes returning Suicide Squad cast members Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis, not to mention new cast members like David Dastmalchian, John Cena, Joaquín Cosío, Nathan Fillion, Maylin Ng, Flula Borg, Sean Gunn, Juan Deigo Botto, Storm Reid, Pete Davidson, Taika Waititi, Alice Brage, Steve Agee, Tinashe Kajese, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, Julio Ruiz, Jennifer Holland, Idris Elba, and Michael Rooker.

The Suicide Squad is currently still slated to arrive in theaters on August 6, 2021.