After nearly half a decade, movement on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has begun. Following a long bout with Disney, and a successful The Suicide Squad film, director James Gunn is back and ready to dive into the cosmic side of Marvel.
Production is gearing up to start filming, that is, if it hasn't already started. The movie will bring back the likes of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana's Gamora, Vin Diesel's Groot, Bradley Cooper's Rocket, and Dave Bautista's Drax.
New to the party is Will Poulter's Adam Warlock, the creation teased in the after-credits scene of Vol. 2—the same one which has gone unaddressed for over four years now.
With the massive cosmic-scale adventure that Vol. 3 is set to be, what are the chances it will utilize the brand-new technology of Stagecraft's The Volume, which wasn't around the last time Gunn made a Guardians film?
For those who don't know, the tech introduced by The Mandalorian is comprised of massive, extremely high-quality screens which basically replace green screens. It's able to create lifelike environments in real-time, allowing for better-looking and dynamic sets.
With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania taking advantage of it, it only seems right that something like Guardians is next in line. Oddly enough, that might not be the case.
Guardians of the Practical Set
On Twitter, a fan asked Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn if the upcoming sequel will utilize The Mandalorian's Volume technology, to which the filmmaker had an unexpected response.
Gunn bluntly said "None," continuing on to clarify that "all of [their] sets are too big for the technology."
The conversation continued with Gunn responding to a fan assuming that his set design and prop teams had dream jobs.
The director jokes "my guess is right now they think otherwise:"
"My guess is right now they think otherwise as they rush to finish our sets in time (thanks to all the folks working hard on those sets now!"
Guardian's Volume Trumps Mando
On one hand, it's a little surprising that the film isn't going to be using The Volume tech for their environments, but on the other hand, there are some tell-tale signs as to why fans should have suspected this to be the case.
For one, Atlanta, GA, where Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's production is set, does not have The Volume installed into any local sound stages. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is using the fancy new tech, is filming in London—where that technology happens to be present.
Another reason why fans should have known Gunn wouldn't go for The Volume is his clear love for practical sets. For those who don't remember, the prison set for Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the biggest practical sets to ever be built at that point. If a location in the script can be feasibly built in reality, it's probably safe to assume that's the angle Gunn will be pushing for.
While Gunn embraces VFX with open arms, he clearly has a love for the practical approach to things, but at the same time, he embraces VFX with open arms. His balance between the two of them is likely the key to his style of blockbuster filmmaking.
Funny enough, Gunn did go on record earlier this year to say that Vol. 3 was planning to utilize The Volume:
"Yes, [we'll use it] some. where it fits."
That does seem to go against what he stated in his more recent Twitter interactions. However, things could have changed since then—for example, the rumored production location for the film moved around more than once.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be released into theaters worldwide on May 5, 2023.
