When Zoe Saldana's Marvel character Gamora was sacrificed by Thanos during the events of Avengers: Infinity War, it seemed like there was going to be a big hole in the Guardians of the Galaxy gang the next time we saw them together. However, Avengers: Endgame brought Gamora back from the dead - well, from the past if you want to get technical about it - and there was immediately a question of whether this version of Gamora would reunite with the Guardians in a future adventure.

As the actress celebrated her 43rd birthday, Guardians director James Gunn appeared to give fans the confirmation they had been looking for that Saldana will be back in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. While fans sent birthday greetings, Gunn joined in by tweeting a series of photos of the pair together at various events and said, "Happy Birthday @zoesaldana. I love you, I miss you, and I can't wait to see you very soon!"

Fans were quick to pick up on his comment, and questioned whether his "very soon" was to shoot the new movie, which is scheduled for release in 2023. "Very happy to hear (hopefully) a confirmation she'll be in Vol 3 ...? C'mon, James. Just say it in plain English. Or Klingon. Klingon will work, too," said one user. Another said, "soon as in 'gotg vol3' soon?" Someone also observed, "When a birthday tweet makes people thirsty for gossip confirmation."

James Gunn obviously fell silent on the subject, but it is as close as we have been given to a sure sign that Gamora will be back in the MCU soon enough, although considering we are dealing with a Gamora from before the original Guardians movie, we are moving into Loki territory of having a previously dead character returning who lacks the personal changes that we watched them go through the first time around. And speaking of Loki, what would the TVA make of Gamora being brought back into the Marvel sacred timeline from a point in the past?

As Marvel expands its universe, it continues to create an intricate web of rules that it must abide by up to a point, and Loki's arrival on Disney+ has made the biggest impact so far. With the original Gamora dead, and the new Gamora being brought into the future by Thanos using the Quantum Realm, will she be allowed to remain or will she be taken out as a variant by the Time Variance Authority. Could saving Gamora from being wiped out again by the TVA form part of the next Guardians outing? Of course, we will have to wait to find out.

For now, we can just join the many wishing Gamora's alter ego of Zoe Saldana many happy returns. Here are some of the messages sent to the actress to celebrate her day.