Guardians of the Galaxy fans may be in for a very long wait to see any footage from the franchise’s upcoming third installment, as James Gunn has almost ruled out a trailer arriving anytime this year. With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 not arriving in cinemas until May 2023, it was always going to be unlikely that a full trailer would drop that far in advance. In one of his latest Q&A Twitter replies, the director has made a simple but clear statement that fans shouldn’t anticipate a trailer coming before the end of 2022.

Marvel fans were surprised when the full trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness arrived as the second post-credit scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home in December, with the movie not hitting cinemas for another five months. However, as with everything Marvel, when one trailer is released early, the fans begin to expect more early previews of other films in the franchise. While that may happen with other movies, when asked by a follower to “describe the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Trailer in 2022 in one word,” Gunn’s reply was simple and clear.

“Nonexistent”

In the grander scheme of the MCU, Marvel tends to start their movie promotion about three months before the release, and although this came later for Spider-Man: No Way Home and early for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, we need to remember that these releases were not exactly made and released in normal circumstances. Both movies were completed long before their scheduled releases. At one point, the Doctor Strange sequel was actually supposed to have opened before Spider-Man’s third adventure and that switch changed both movies. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has just started filming, meaning that its trailers and promotions will revert back to the Marvel standard.

However, James Gunn is very active on his social media accounts, as are a number of the cast members, so even if we don’t see a trailer for over a year, that doesn’t mean fans will be completely in the dark about the progress of the movie. Also, there is the fact that the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is also filming now and expected to premiere on Disney+ in December 2022. Gunn has already mentioned on a number of occasions that the Holiday Special will be canon and is essential viewing before going into the third Guardians movie. With that in mind, it is therefore obvious that Marvel would want to hold off a trailer for the movie until after the special has aired.

There is not much in the way of plot details known for what is gearing up to be the final outing for a number of the Guardians, as well as Gunn himself, who seems to be done with Marvel after this movie, at least for the foreseeable future. The film will feature the debut of Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and will also heavily focus on Gamora and Rocket, with the former’s story continuing from the developments of Avengers: Endgame and the latter being linked to the film’s main reported antagonist, the High Evolutionary who was a geneticist who previously performed experiments on the feisty raccoon. All will be revealed when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 hits cinemas on May 5th, 2023.