Even before the massive Guardians 2 opening weekend of $145 million last month, James Gunn had finally confirmed that he was in fact coming back to write and direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. There had been rumors that he may not come back before, but now he is already working on the script, and, according to the director himself, he will also help shape the future of MCU's Cosmic universe beyond Guardians of the Galaxy 3. While this is still all many years away, it seems clear that the cosmic side of the MCU will have a bright future ahead of it.

While there isn't much released about the Guardians 3 story yet, writer-director James Gunn did confirm that the story is set after Infinity War, and although there hasn't been a release date set at this time, many are already speculating that Guardians 3 could be one of the three release dates Marvel has already set for the year 2020, which will be the first three Phase 4 movies. IGN caught up with the director, who was asked about comments Kevin Feige made about the director possibly overseeing the MCU's cosmic movies beyond his own Guardians of the Galaxy projects. Here's what the director had to say below.

"We talk about it all the time. It's already a part of what I'm doing with Marvel and the conversations that Kevin and I have every day. When we're talking about Guardians of the Galaxy 3, and that story, that's a story that will lead to other stories. It's innate to the DNA that that's the end of a trilogy but it's the beginning of a whole other element of the Marvel Cosmic universe. That's a part of what I'm doing now."

The five post-credit scenes for Guardians 2 already gave fans a few hints at what may be coming in Guardians 3 and beyond. One of these scenes introduced a character many fans have been waiting for in the MCU, Adam Warlock. While we didn't get to see the character himself, we did get to see his birthing pod, with Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) teasing that she will use Adam to hunt down the Guardians. James Gunn has in fact confirmed that Adam Warlock will be introduced into the MCU at some point, with many already speculating that it will happen in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, but that has not been confirmed yet, especially since the director is still writing the script.

Another possibility for a future MCU cosmic movie could center on the original Guardians team, lead by Sylvester Stallone's Stakar Ogrod, a.k.a. Starhawk. This team, which also includes Ving Rhames as Charlie-27, Michelle Yeoh as Aleta Ogrod, Michael Rosenbaum as Martinex, Miley Cyrus as Mainframe and the CG-animated Krugarr, was the original Guardians of the Galaxy team in the very first comic book, along with Yondu (Michael Rooker). This particular post-credit scene featured this entire group reuniting to pay homage to the late Yondu, teasing that these Ravagers will team up yet again in the future. Whether or not that happens in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 remains to be seen.