Fear not, fans of violent space raccoons and talking trees as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 remains on track at Marvel Studios. This, according to writer/director James Gunn, who recently confirmed as much on social media. Despite all of the delays currently plaguing major productions in Hollywood, it seems at least one highly-anticipated sequel, for the time being, has been unaffected. At least in terms of scheduling.

The subject came up when a fan on Twitter recently revealed that they have been seeing rumors pop up that the movie has been delayed. James Gunn got wind of the post and decided to chime in, assuring his fans that any information claiming that his next MCU adventure has been postponed is indeed inaccurate. Here's what Gunn had to say about it.

"Thanks, friend. I can confirm that the plans for when we're filming #GotGVol3 & when it's being released have not changed at all over the past year & a half or so. Any rumors otherwise are false. I appreciate your caution!"

So there we have it. This is undoubtedly good news for Marvel Cinematic Universe fans in the sea of bad news that has been 2020. It's been truly brutal for the movie industry overall, but the MCU has certainly not been immune. Black Widow was originally supposed to hit theaters in March but had to be pushed to November, causing a huge shift in Disney/Marvel's Phase 4 and Phase 5 release plans. Further issues have led to more release calendar shuffling, with the MCU mapped out through most of 2022 at this point. And that is likely why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hasn't been hurt by the situation the world finds itself in.

At this point, given Disney's current release schedule for the MCU, it is unlikely we will see the sequel arriving in theaters before 2023. That means we still have roughly two and a half to three years before its eventual release date. With that, there is no reason to think cameras will roll before late 2021 at the very earliest. No matter when the actual dates are, the point is that the likely dates are far enough in the future that there is no need to push them back yet. This will also give James Gunn plenty of time to finish up work on The Suicide Squad, which is set to hit theaters in August 2021.

James Gunn directed the previous two installments in the franchise, which earned a combined $1.63 billion at the global box office. Plot details are currently being kept under wraps but it is expected that the entire core cast will return for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. When last we saw Star-Lord and the gang, they were blasting off into space with Thor at the end of Avengers: Endgame, presumably to go look for Gamora. You can check out the original post from James Gunn's Twitter. The topper art comes from Zerologhy